A Trail of Memories
by animechick247
Summary: Hikari has always had the ability to see people's memories. The only problem is that she can't remember her own. Now she must join Sora on his journey to find his friends and her lover while she tries to rememeber her past in the process.
1. Chapter 1

A Trail of Memories

Prolog

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first attempt to write a Kingdom Hearts Fanfic, so please bear with me if it sucks. Hopefully it's a good as my other fanfics.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Riku (that sexy beast), but I do own my OC.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

_A memory is a very precious gift. _

_We hold it deep within our hearts and never let it go._

_Sometimes we treasure it and sometimes we wish they were never created._

_They shape out our personality and describe who we are._

_But what happens when our memories are taken from us and we can't remember anything at all?_

* * *

The body of a young girl washed up on the shores of a nearby beach.

Her brown hair was pressed to her face and covered her eyes.

Her mint green dress was soaked and stuck to her body.

A wave came crashing down and splashed water on her face.

Her eyes fluttered open to reveal a set of jade green gems.

She slowly sat up with a dazed look.

Her vision was all fuzzy from having her eyes closed for so long.

She had no idea where she was or who she was for that matter.

Everything was blank in her mind.

She tried to recall what had happened, but all she could find was empty space.

Her mind was simply empty.

She didn't have any clues to who she was.

That is, until she felt something fall into her lap.

Looking down, she saw a heart shaped pendant that looked like it was made out of glass.

She slowly picked it up and examined it.

Light filtered through it and had a rainbow appear out of it.

A smile appeared on her face as she looked at the pendant.

She saw some writing on it and looked closer to read out what was said.

There, in fine sliver cursive said only one simple word.

_Hikari_

Images suddenly flashed through her head.

She clutched her head in pain as the images grew too much for her.

She didn't know what they were, but for some reason she felt that they were all about her.

The pain became too much for her and she passed out.

She was out of it for only a few minutes when someone gently shook her.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Her eyes fluttered open once more, only this time her vision was crystal clear.

She looked up to see a boy who looked to be about the same age as her, kneeling down next to her.

He had a yellow shirt with blue pants. He had silver hair that nearly reached his shoulders.

He was really handsome boy, the only thing about his features that captivated her were his eyes.

They were the brightest shade of aquamarine that she had ever seen. It was like the ocean was within his eyes.

The boy gave her a small smile when he saw her waking up.

"Are you ok?" he repeated.

She simply nodded.

She couldn't find her voice for some reason.

The boy held out his hand to her.

She looked at it for a second then back at him.

He laughed a little.

"Relax; I'm not going to hurt you"

She slowly took it and let him help her up.

She brushed off the sand that stuck to her dress before looking at the boy.

He gave her a gentle smile as he looked at her.

"So, how did you wind up here?"

She looked at him for a moment, then looked at the ground.

Since she couldn't remember anything, she had no idea how she got here.

The boy titled his head to the side.

"What's the matter? Don't you know?"

She found herself shaking her head.

"You mean you don't remember?"

She nodded at that.

"That's a bummer"

She hung her head sadly as if she did something wrong.

The boy patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll remember"

She looked at him hopefully.

"Don't look so sad, smile"

She watched as he placed his hands behind his head.

She just looked at him.

"Go on, smile"

He smiled as an example for her.

She couldn't help the giggles that came out of her mouth.

"There you go"

She smiled at him sweetly.

"So, do you have a name?"

She thought for a moment.

She couldn't recall anything about herself.

When she looked at the pendent that was in her hands, the word etched in it sprung from her mouth.

"Hikari"

It felt right saying it for some reason.

Perhaps it was her name.

"Hikari, huh? I'm Riku"

Hikari smiled at him.

"Riku" she said.

Riku held his hand out to her.

"Well, Hikari. Welcome to Destiny Islands"

As she took his hand, she didn't realize that her adventures were just beyond the horizon.

* * *

**A/N: I know it wasn't the best intro, but hopefully the next chapter will get better.**

**Help me out and send me your reviews so I can make this story better.**

**Ja ne.**


	2. Prepairing for our departure

Chapter 2: Preparing for our departure

**A/N: Wow! I didn't expect to get any reviews right away! That's awesome.**

**Here's the next chapter, this will take place 9 years later from the intro (obviously).Hope you guys like Hikari.**

**Also, thanks Yumi Senji for the title idea.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just Hikari.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Ni-san!"_

_Hikari ran over to a boy who was slightly older than her._

_He had the same shade of brown hair as her, only some of it fell into his eyes._

_He smiled at her when she wrapped her arms around his legs._

"_What is it, Hikari?"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_Let's go on the swing!"_

_She pulled her brother along until they reached the swing set in their backyard._

_He picked her up and placed her on the wooden swing._

"_You ready?"_

_She nodded and squealed when he started pushing her._

"_Higher, Ni-san, Higher!"_

_Every time he pushed her, she went higher than before._

_She was high enough that she could touch the lowest branch of the tree that was next to the swing._

_She felt like if she jumped off now, that she would fly off into the sky._

"_Hey, Ni-san! Watch me fly!"_

_Her brother's eyes went wide._

"_Don't do it, Hikari!"_

_She just laughed and jumped off._

"_Weeee!!!!"_

_Her brother ran and caught her when she came down._

_They both fell to the ground from the impact._

_Hikari giggled as she sat on her brother's lap._

"_Let's do it again!"_

_Her brother sat up and gave her a look._

"_Hikari, that was dangerous! You could have been hurt!"_

_Hikari's smile fell._

"_Sorry, Ni-san"_

_Her brother sighed and patted her head._

"_It's ok. Just don't do it again. It would break my heart to see you get hurt"_

_He brushed the hair out of her eyes._

"_Promise me that you won't do that again?"_

_Hikari nodded._

"_I promise!"_

_Her brother smiled._

"_That's my girl"_

* * *

The sound of seagulls flying over the ocean caused Hikari to wake up from her slumber.

Her dazzling green eyes looked up at the cloudless sky from where she slept on the beach.

Yawning, she sat up to see the beautiful view of the endless ocean that made up the Destiny Islands.

She never grew tired looking at that endless shade of blue.

Ever since she was little, she always found herself looking at the ocean.

Sighing, she lay back down to look at the sky, only something, or rather, someone was blocking her view.

Riku was standing over her, giving her a cocky grin.

She gasped and shot up like a rocket.

"I see you feel asleep on the job again, Hikari. It looks like Sora isn't the only one slacking off"

Said boy came over with Kairi in tow.

Sora was laughing at the expression on Hikari's face.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

Hikari gave him an angry pout as she stood up.

She dusted the sand off her mint green shirt and black Capri pants.

She also checked her hair to make sure that the red ribbon that she tied part of her hair to keep it out of her face was in place.

"Jeez, Hikari. We have to finish building our raft. You can't be sleeping now"

"I wasn't sleeping" Hikari scolded.

"I just remembered something about my past. I always get them when I rest up"

"In other words, you were sleeping" Riku said.

Hikari stuck her tongue out at him.

Ever since Hikari came to the Islands, she would regain pieces of her memories every once in a while.

It was a tiring process, but she didn't mind.

She came from a different world like Kairi did, but she had a special gift that no one else possessed.

She could read people's memories.

She was able to see a person's past as long as she was able to make contact with them.

Her friends thought she was a seer, but she didn't know what her power was.

If she was able to read and see a person's memory, then why couldn't she use it on herself?

Just thinking about it made her head hurt.

"So what was your memory about?" Kairi asked.

Hikari rubbed her neck.

"Well…I guess I have an older brother. We were playing at our house and I tried to jump off the swing and ended up landing on him, that's all I could remember. I don't even know what his name was"

"Wow, you have family then! Maybe when we go on our trip, we'll run into him" Sora said

Hikari smiled at that.

"Maybe we will"

"Alright, enough of going down memory lane" Riku said.

He threw the log that he was holding to Sora and watched him fumble.

"Our raft won't be finish with us just talking. Let's get moving"

Hikari nodded.

"Ok"

Sora suddenly got competitive.

"Last one to the raft has to get supplies!"

Riku went up to the challenge.

"You're on!"

Hikari felt left out and decided to join in.

"Hope you guys are ready to lose to a girl"

Riku snorted.

"In your wildest dreams. You'll never beat me"

Hikari raised her eyebrow playfully.

"Oh? Are you sure on that?"

"Positive"

She got really close to his face. Their noses were barley touching each other.

Riku's eyes went wide at how bold Hikari was being.

Her lips went to his ear as she whispered.

"Ready...set…GO!"

She dashed off across the beach like a mad man and left Riku in a daze.

Her face was beat red from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she pulled that stunt on Riku.

"_I must have lost it!"_

The silver haired boy quickly shook his head and ran after her.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Sora was right on his heels and was neck to neck with his best friend.

Kairi laughed as she tagged behind.

* * *

Hikari was running as fast as her legs could go.

She wasn't the fastest runner in their group, but she was thankful that she managed to get a head start.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riku catching up fast.

"_I can't let him win! I'll look like an idiot!"_

She pushed herself harder and ran even faster.

Her chest started burning, but she ignored it. She had to win!

Sora was catching up now as well and was tied with her and Riku.

He looked determined as he ran.

He always lost to Riku when it came to racing and sword fighting, but he wasn't going to lose to a girl like Hikari.

When he saw that she was starting go ahead, he did the only thing that would make her fall back.

Not realizing what he was doing, he tackled her to the ground. Both of them skidded across the sand as they made impact.

Hikari slammed her fist into the ground.

"Sora!" she yelled.

Sora laughed innocently.

"Sorry, Hikari. I didn't mean to. I just didn't want to lost to a girl"

She just glared at him and stuck her tongue out at him.

She knew that he didn't mean it, but he could be a sore loser at times.

Riku obviously won the race.

He went back to the two and helped Hikari up while he left his best friend on the ground.

"Since Sora cheated, that means he lost"

Sora's eyes bugged out.

"What?!"

Riku gave him a cocky grin.

"Tripping a girl just so you could win. I didn't know you were getting that desperate"

Kairi caught up to them and handed the list of supplies to Sora.

"Here you go, Sora. Make sure to get fresh water, I don't want us to get sick from drinking sea water"

Sora grumbled and took the list from her.

"That's what you get for tripping me over!" Hikari declared.

Sora just waved her off and went to get the supplies while they finished of the raft.

* * *

_Half an hour later_

"Wow! The raft looks awesome!"

After days of building and arguing, the raft was finally done.

Everything was prepared for their departure in a few days.

With this raft, they would finally be able to see if there were other worlds out there.

This trip was very important to Hikari and Kairi.

They had no recollection of what world they were from, so they wanted to find out what their home was like.

"_I wonder if I'll be able to find my older brother?" _Hikari thought.

"When we get to the other side of the ocean…will we really find another world?" Sora asked.

"I wonder what kind of place it's going to be?"

"We'll know when we get there" Riku replied.

"We'll know what kind of world Hikari and Kairi came from and we'll know why we're here"

He set his supplies down and looked out at the ocean.

"If Hikari and Kairi hadn't come to this island…we never would've known that there is another world out there. We would've lived our entire lives on this island"

Hikari stayed quiet. She didn't know what to say to that.

Kairi came up to them and waved something that was in her hand.

"Hey guys! Check this out!"

She held out a star shaped charm in her hand.

"Wow, Kairi. Did you make that?" Hikari asked.

"Yep. It's a Thalassa shell lucky charm! Sailors used to wear these and pray for a safe voyage …in hopes of returning home safely from their journeys"

Hikari giggled.

"That's pretty cool, Kairi. I wonder if my lucky charm will work like that too"

She pulled out her heart shaped pendant from under her shirt.

Her pendant was the only connection she had to her past and her home world.

It made her feel safe in secure whenever she felt sacred.

"I know I didn't make mine like you did. But it's kept out of trouble, so I consider it lucky"

"There's nothing to worry about!" Sora declared.

"We're gonna find different worlds and return back in one piece!"

Riku just rolled his eyes at his friend while the girls giggled.

* * *

Later that day, everyone sat by the Paopu tree and watched the sunset.

This was Hikari's favorite time of day.

When the sun was about to set in the horizon, it made the ocean look like it was on fire.

"I wonder if the sunset will look beautiful on other worlds as it is here?"

"We'll know when we set off" Riku said.

Hikari sighed.

"I'm a little nervous about this trip. What if something goes wrong and we get hurt?"

Riku, who was sitting next to her on the Paopu tree, patted her on the shoulder.

"There's nothing to worry about. I'll protect you on this journey. You have nothing to fear of"

Hikari blushed as he gave her a grin.

Her heart always felt warm and content when she was by Riku.

Ever since she came to the islands, she had always had a crush on him.

"_He's strong, smart, brave and he has a smile that just makes you want to melt"_

Not to mention his eyes. She had never seen such a clear shade of aquamarine in her entire life. She would look at those eyes all day if she had the choice.

"_He is definitely a gift from god"_

Just then, a Paopu fruit landed in her lap.

"Hey! A Paopu fruit!" Sora exclaimed.

Hikari picked it up and examined the star shaped fruit.

It was said that if two people shared the Paopu fruit, then their destinies would be intertwined and they would be a part of each other's lives no matter what.

Kairi nudged Hikari in the shoulder with a teasing grin.

"You better save that for when you find Mr. Right. You'll be together forever"

Hikari blushed and laughed nervously.

"D-don't be silly, Kairi. The Paopu story is just a fairly tale. I doubt it really works"

"If that's so, then why are you holding it tightly?" Sora teased.

Hikari glared at him.

"Why don't I pick through your memories again and tell Riku and Kairi something about you that they don't know?"

Sora paled at that.

He remembered when he found out about Hikari's powers that he wanted her to try it out on him and she found out that he failed his math test and lied to his parents, saying that he passed and that his teacher was keeping it to show as an example to the other students.

The others laughed when he shook his head quickly.

Hikari wore a proud grin.

"That's what I thought"

* * *

When the sun was barely visible, they decided it was time to head back.

"Be sure to have everything ready. I don't want to go on this trip knowing that we forgot something" Riku said.

Everyone nodded and went into their boats.

Hikari got into her boat and put the oars in place.

"Hikari"

She turned to her left to see Riku rowing by.

"Tomorrow we'll have a fair race. No cheating at all"

She smiled at that.

"Ok, and can we sword practice too?"

"Anything for you, princess"

She blushed as he rowed back to the main lands.

She rowed after her friends to go back home.

As she got closer, she pulled out the Paopu fruit that she had secretly kept into her pocket and looked at it.

"Your destinies will be intertwined forever huh?"

She put it back into her pocket and rowed back home, thinking if she should use the fruit with Riku or not.

* * *

**A/N: There you go. Sorry if I sucked at explaining Hikari's powers. I'm sure as the story goes further along, it'll make scene.**

**Remember to send in your reviews and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	3. Calm before the Storm

Chapter 3: Calm before the Storm

**A/N: Here we are with the next chapter! Hopefully, this one will be better than the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I do own Hikari.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Hikari ran down the corridors of a building._

_She was searching for someone and she knew where to look._

_Pushing a set of double doors, she entered a giant library._

_The bookshelves were as tall as the ceiling and created a type of maze._

_She ran down the aisles until she found the person that she was looking for._

_A young woman sat by a table with a few books next to her._

_She had long brown hair that fell to her waist and had the same green eyes as Hikari._

_She wore a sleeveless white gown and wore white slip on shoes._

_She looked like a princess from a fairy tale._

"_Mommy!"_

_The woman looked up from her book and smiled when she saw her daughter._

_Hikari ran to her mom and wrapped her arms around her legs._

"_Hello my little princess" her mother said._

_She ran her hand through her hair in a motherly sort of way._

_Hikari closed her eyes contently._

_She always loved it when her mother did that._

_She looked up at her with a pleading look in her eyes._

"_Mommy, can you tell me a story?"_

_Her mother smiled and placed her on her lap._

"_What would you like to hear?"_

_Hikari thought for a moment._

"_I don't know. Something that's really nice"_

_Her mother giggled a little._

"_Very well then, I'll tell you a story that my mother told me when I was your age"_

_Hikari bounced in her lap._

"_Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warm light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted the light for themselves, and darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of the light survived …in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return"_

_Hikari tilted her head to the side. _

_She had never heard that kind of story before. She was expecting a fairy tale._

_She didn't like that it had to deal with the dark. _

_The darkness terrified her._

"_I don't understand the story, mommy. What is it suppose to mean?"_

_Her mother smiled at her softly._

"_It means, that even in the deepest darkness, there will always be light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Hikari?"_

_She nodded._

_She really didn't understand, but she didn't want to disappoint her mother._

"_Taiyouko!" _

_Her mother turned around to see someone, whose face was blurred out._

"_I have to go, Hikari. Why don't you go play with your brother for a little while?"_

_She nodded and jumped out of her mother's lap._

"_Thank you for telling me the story, mommy"_

_Her mother smiled at her._

"_Anytime, my dear. Just remember what I said"_

_She nodded and ran off to tell her brother about the story that she just heard._

* * *

Hikari clenched her forehead.

She was on her way to the secret place on the islands, when the memory just surfaced to her mine.

"_So that was my mother, huh? I even remembered her name"_

Taiyouko: Sun child.

A smile appeared on her lips.

Her mother was like the rays of the sun. She could brighten up a room with her smile.

"_Or at least that's what I remember. I don't really know the rest of it"_

She walked past the waterfall and entered the secret place.

It was a small cave filled with drawings that she and the others made when they were kids.

It was suppose to be Riku and Sora's secret place, but she remembered when she was allowed to enter here.

* * *

Nine Years Ago.

_Riku was busy drawing his latest creation on one of the stone walls of the cave._

_He was so caught up in his drawing, that he didn't even notice that Hikari had entered the cave._

_She had followed him, hoping that she could ask him to teach her how to sword fight like him and Sora. _

_She was amazed by all of the drawings that covered the walls. They were pretty good._

_Her foot brushed against a pebble and caused it to clatter across the ground._

_Riku jumped in surprise and whipped his head around._

_He thought it was Sora, but he was startled when he saw it was Hikari._

_He suddenly grew defensive that someone came to his secret place and pointed the rock that he was using to draw at her._

"_Hey! No one's supposed to come here!"_

_Hikari didn't pay attention to him and went over to the drawing that he was working on. _

_It was a picture of some type of castle with a mini king and queen standing in front of it._

"_Did you draw this?" She asked._

_Riku blushed a little and nodded._

_She smiled brightly._

"_That's so cool! You must be an artist or something!"_

_Riku's face went redder._

_Sensing that she wouldn't get to ask her question, she went to leave._

"_Wait"_

_She turned around to see Riku holding a stone for her._

"_I'll let you stay because you're special, Hikari"_

_She smiled at that and grabbed the stone he handed her._

_For the rest of the day, they drew pictures on the wall, including portraits of themselves._

* * *

She went over to their self portraits and ran her hands across her picture.

Hers didn't turn out as well as Riku's did.

Hers was a little more sloppier than Riku's.

She figured it was because she wasn't use to drawing on rock, so she didn't mind.

She looked around the cave and save a self portrait of Sora and Kairi.

"_They must have drew this like Riku and I did"_

She put her hand to the picture and saw a younger version of Sora and Kairi drawing the pictures.

"_One of the up sides of having strange powers"_

She spotted something underneath the drawing.

"What's this?"

It was an arm coming out from under Sora's head and was handing a Paopu fruit to Kairi.

She smiled softly at the picture.

"_He's got it bad for her"_

She looked back at her picture and picked up a stone.

"There's no way I would ever be able to give Riku a real Paopu fruit"

She started carving out an arm under her face and drew herself giving Riku a Paopu fruit.

"Since I can't give him a real one, I might as well draw one. He doesn't come here anymore so it's no big deal"

She was caught up in her drawing that she didn't realize a cloaked figure was behind her.

"This world has been connected"

She dropped her rock in surprise and looked around the cave.

"Who said that?"

The voice continued.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed"

She spotted the cloaked figure hiding in a corner.

"Hey! Where did you come from?! And why are you sneaking up on me?!"

The cloaked figure continued its rambling.

"You know not what lies beyond that door…you know nothing. You understand nothing"

Hikari started to get annoyed.

"Stop talking gibberish! If you want to tell me something, then say it normally"

The cloaked figure looked at her for a moment as if studying her.

"You haven't changed a bit"

She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

The cloaked figure didn't respond.

"Hikari! Where are you?" Kairi called out.

Hikari panicked.

She didn't want anyone to see her picture.

"I'll be right there!"

She went to speak to the cloaked person, but found that he vanished.

"_He's gone. Where did he go?"_

She just shook it off and ran out of the cave.

She didn't want to keep her friends waiting.

* * *

Sunset came faster than Hikari had expected.

The gang was sitting by the Paopu tree like always and watched the sun set.

"Tomorrow is the big day" Sora said.

Tomorrow was when they would set off on their journey.

"I wonder what kind of worlds we'll see?" Kairi asked.

"We'll know when we travel" Hikari said.

She was really nervous about tomorrow.

Would she find her home world?

Would they be alright?

Would she find her mother and older brother?

The more she thought about it, the more it made her head hurt.

"_Maybe I'll be able to regain my memories on this journey" _

She would find out once tomorrow came.

* * *

Everyone went to their boats once night time came.

A strong wind blew by and hit Hikari as she got in her boat.

Her ribbon that she used to keep her hair pulled back came loose and blew out of her hair.

She panicked and tried to grab it, only to have it blow out of her reach.

Riku caught it when it blew towards him and held it out for her.

"You still have this thing?"

Hikari sighed with relief and grabbed her ribbon.

It was her most sacred treasure, even if it was just a ribbon.

She tied her hair back and made sure it was in place.

"Thanks Riku"

He just waved it off and got in his boat.

"You better be ready tomorrow. I don't want you sleeping in late" He said.

"Why? You'll leave me behind then?" she joked.

Riku snorted.

"Like I would do that. You're the reason I want to go on this journey. If you're not here, then there would be no point in it for me"

Hikari was speechless.

"_He wants to go on this trip because of me?"_

She felt her cheeks grow warm.

She was lucky that is was dark out, otherwise Riku would have seen her blushing.

Riku gave her his cocky grin.

"Get up early tomorrow so you'll be here on time"

She nodded and rowed back to the main land.

As she headed back to her home, she could have sworn that she heard a voice in her head.

"_You're journey has just begun, my little princess"_

* * *

**A/N: I bet you all know what's going to happen in the next chapter, right? I can tell right now that there will be a lot of action in the next chapter (or at least I hope so)**

**Please remember to send in your reviews and tell me what you think of the story so far.**

**Ja ne.**


	4. The Intruder

Chapter 4: The Intruder

**A/N: Here's the next installment! I'm so happy that people are reviewing and making this story one of their favorites. That must mean that I'm doing my job. This is where things take a drastic turn. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Riku (still sexy!) But I do own Hikari**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!'**

* * *

She spent the rest of her night packing everything that she would need for the trip.

"Let's see. I got my swimsuit, towel, sunscreen, protein bars, water bottle, extra clothes. That should do it"

She placed her backpack by her bed and looked out her bedroom window.

It had really gotten dark since got home.

She was terrified of the dark and always had to have lights on in the house.

She couldn't even sleep without a night light on, she was that scared.

She shivered when she looked out at the blackened sky.

Not a single star was visible.

"_There must be a storm coming" _she thought.

To prove her point, the wind started to pick up.

"That's not good"

She thought whether or not she should go over to the island and check on their raft.

She knew it would be scary going by the island alone and in the dark, but it was either she went or she would have to build a new raft.

"I must be out of my mind"

She put on her black combat boots and grabbed the flash light next to her bed stand.

"They better appreciate what I'm doing"

She jumped out of the window and ran to the docks where she kept her boat.

* * *

The wind picked up when she got to the island.

Hikari shivered and rubbed her arms.

"I should have brought a jacket"

She flipped on her flashlight and scanned the area.

She spotted 3 other boats tied to the dock.

"Those are Sora, Riku and Kairi's boats" She said.

"I guess I'm not the only one here then"

She jumped on the dock and ran to the beach.

She held her flashlight out to show where she was going.

"I hope the raft is ok"

She ran across the sand with her flashlight as her only guide.

As she was running, her flashlight flickered a bit then died out.

"That's not good" she whimpered.

She saw movement up ahead and thought that it was one of her friends, but what she saw totally threw her off guard.

Little black creatures with yellow eyes suddenly appeared out from the ground.

They scampered around like little bugs across the floor.

She took a step back in fear.

Images flashed through her head as she looked at these creature.

"_These things…I've…I think I've seen them before"_

* * *

"_Ni-san! They're coming!"_

_Hikari and her brother were running down a dark hallway as these black creatures chased after them._

_Her now teenage brother pulled out his sword that was shaped like a gun and swung at the nearest creatures._

_One of them managed to get past his attack and swiped at his face._

"_Ni-san!"_

_Her brother's face was bleeding from the injury, but he just ignored it. _

_He put his weapon away and picked her up._

_He ran as fast as he could while he held on to his sister tightly._

_She whimpered into his shirt as she held on tightly._

* * *

Now she remembered!

These were the monsters that were from her home world.

She knew that, but she didn't know what they were.

"I know they have a name, but I can't think of what it is"

"Hikari!"

Sora ran towards her.

"Sora!"

He reached her and breathed heavily as if he was running for a while.

"Have you seen Riku or Kairi?"

"No. I just got here. I wanted to check on the raft since a storm was coming, and then all of a sudden I find these creatures"

She motioned to the black blobs.

"They don't seem like they're going to attack. It's like they're waiting for something"

"I wonder what?"

"There's no time to find out. Let's go find Riku and Kairi"

Hikari nodded and followed Sora.

"_At least I don't have to search in the dark by myself anymore"_

She followed Sora towards the small island where the Paopu tree stood.

Riku stood in the middle of the little island with his back facing them.

"Riku! Is Kairi with you?!" Sora asked.

As Riku turned around, black smoke emitted around him and he had a creepy smile on his face.

Hikari backed up a bit.

"R-Riku?" She asked nervously.

Riku held his hand out to them.

"Hikari…Sora…come with me"

By this time, the darkness nearly surrounded them and the dark creatures were coming closer.

"Don't worry, Kairi is coming too" Riku said to Sora.

Hikari began to panic as everything grew darker and darker.

"_I hate the dark! I hate the dark! I hate the dark!" _she thought frantically.

"Don't fear the darkness, Hikari" Riku said gentility.

Hikari looked at his out stretched hand and reached for it.

The darkness enveloped Riku.

"Riku!" She cried.

She looked around and saw nothing but darkness.

She started to tremble in fear.

"_Its pitch dark…there's nothing…I'm sacred! Somebody please help me!"_

Suddenly, a bright light enveloped her.

"_Don't be scared"_ A voice said.

Hikari gasped.

"That voice!...it sounds so familiar…but from where?"

The light began to morph into a giant key and was placed into her hand.

"_You possess one of the most strongest weapons in the world" _the voice said.

Hikari looked into her hands to see a giant white key.

"What is this? IS it a key? Or is it a sword?"

"_The Keyblade" _the voice said.

"_The power within you"_

"Keyblade" she said.

The darkness around her suddenly vanished.

She saw Sora not far from her, holding a keyblade himself.

"Sora!" Hikari yelled.

She ran to him.

Sora turned to her.

"Hikari! You're ok!" he said relieved.

He spotted the keyblade in her hand.

"You got a weird looking sword too?"

She was about to respond when suddenly a black creature appeared.

Something suddenly flashed through Hikari's mind as she saw the huge creature.

* * *

_Hikari whimpered as she buried her face into her brother's shirt._

_A giant creature was going after them and reached its hand out to them._

_Her brother held Hikari tighter to him._

_He was reached a dead end and was backed up into a wall._

_The creature nearly wrapped its fingers around the two of them._

_Just then, a burst of light came out of nowhere and pushed the creature away from them. _

_When the light disappeared, Taiyouko was standing before them._

"_Mommy!"_

"_Mom!"_

_Taiyouko turned to her children._

_Her usual carefree expression was replaced with a serious one._

"_You two get out of here! It's dangerous here! Run!"_

_Hikari's brother hesitated for a moment, but when his mother urged him, he ran off._

_Hikari looked over his shoulder with tears in her eyes._

"_Mommy!"_

_A white light surrounded Taiyouko's body._

_The whole area was blinded with light._

_Hikari had to cover her eyes from the light._

_All she could do was cry as her brother ran._

* * *

She ground her teeth in frustration.

"_This thing attacked my mother!"_

The creature went to whack it's hand at them.

Hikari dodged it and pushed Sora out of the way.

It went to strike again, but Sora managed to hit it instead.

"Don't underestimate me! I've been sword fighting with Riku for ages!"

Hikari dodged most of the attacks, but she got a few hits on her own.

"I may be a girl, but I have a lot of fight in me!"

She charged at the creature and slammed her keyblade into its arm.

She kept hacking and slicing at the thing until it couldn't move it's arm.

"_I'm so glad that I had Sora and Riku teach me how to fight"_

She flipped back and ran towards the other hand.

The two of them kept fighting for a few minutes.

The creature finally went down for the count after it was hit in the head by Sora's keyblade.

"Oh yeah! Who's the man!" Sora cheered.

Hikari was about to say something when the ground suddenly shook.

Suddenly, a black hole appeared in the sky and sucked everything up.

Sora grabbed Hikari's hand while he held onto a log with his other.

His hand slipped and they were both swallowed up by the black hole.

The last thing that Hikari heard before she blacked out was that voice again.

"_You shall be the one who brings light within the darkness"_

* * *

**A/N: I guess the action scene didn't turn out as well as I thought it would be. Sorry about that.**

**Anyway, please send your reviews and tell me what you think. I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

**Ja ne**


	5. Traverse Town

Chapter 5: Traverse Town

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own Hikari**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Hikari and her brother were running down a dark waterway. Everywhere they looked, it was pitch black._

_She whimpered when they stopped._

_She clung to her brother's leg as she shook like a leaf._

_Her brother ran his hand through her hair to try to calm her down._

_Everything was quiet; the only sound they could hear was water dripping._

_Everything seemed fine until a black hole appeared behind Hikari. _

_She tightly held onto her brother's hand as she was sucked in. _

_Her brother tried to hold on to her tightly, but she slipped through his fingers._

_She reached her arm out to him desperately._

"_Leon!" she cried._

_Her brother tried to grab her._

"_Hikari!" he screamed._

_She was sucked into darkness. _

_The last thing she could remember before she blacked out was her brother's scared face._

* * *

Hikari's eye's twitched as she regained a part of her memory.

"_Leon…my brother's name"_

She felt something wet touch her face.

Groaning slightly, she opened her eyes to see a yellow dog sitting in front of her.

"Huh? Where do you come from?"

She sat up and rubbed her neck.

"Man, that was some dream"

Her eyebrows knitted together when she saw the area that she was in.

"Where am I?"

She turned to her left when she heard slight movement.

She saw Sora leaning against a wall out cold.

The dog went up to him and licked his face.

Sora let out a girlish scream as he woke up.

He looked around and found Hikari laughing at him.

"Hikari?" he asked.

"Where are we?"

She simply shrugged.

"I just woke up, so I don't know"

Sora just looked around some more.

"What is this place?"

He looked at the dog.

"I guess you wouldn't know, huh?"

Hikari sweat dropped.

"_Why are you asking a dog, Sora?"_

The dog ran out of the alley way.

"Hey! Wait!"

They both ran after it and looked around.

"This is weird" Sora said.

Hikari didn't say anything.

The area looked familiar to her.

"I think…I've been here before" She said.

"Really? Then what's this place called?" Sora asked.

Hikari thought for a moment.

Images of this place came rushing to her head.

She remembered coming here after she and her brother were separated from their mother.

She remembered the buildings and the area, but she couldn't remember the name.

"I don't know. I just know that I've been here before"

Sora scratched his head.

"Well, then. Since you know this place, then you lead the way"

She nodded and walked forward.

Sora followed her like a lost puppy as she went.

A little ways off, a shadowed figured was watching them.

"So you've arrived…holders of the key"

The person froze when they saw Hikari's face.

"It can't be"

* * *

Hikari simply followed some invisible trail that was in front of her.

She really didn't know where she was going, but her heart was telling her where to go.

"_It's strange…it feels like I've lived here before. Could this be my home world?"_

She kept walking for a bit until she spotted something up ahead.

A woman was running away from a creature in armor.

She tripped over a loose cobble stone and fell to the ground.

She sat up and went to get up again, but it was too late.

The creature plunged its claw into her chest and pulled out her heart.

"_Did that thing just pulled out her heart?"_

The creature crushed the heart in its hand.

Hikari pointed to the woman.

"She's disappearing!"

As the woman faded, black blobs with yellow eyes appeared.

"Those creatures from the island!" Sora cried.

Hikari knew this was bad.

They had to get away and fast.

She looked around for a place to hide.

"_Go to the weapon shop. You'll find help there" _A voice said.

It was the same voice that she head before her island was swallowed.

"_Where have I heard that voice?" _She thought.

She grabbed Sora's had as he pulled out his keyblade.

"Come on! This way!"

They ran inside the shop and slammed the door shut.

A man with short yellow hair with a toothpick in his mouth looked at them.

"Hey, you don't look like customers" he said.

"And if you're not customers, then get out"

They both froze when they heard loud banging noises coming from the door.

The man frowned.

"Them again, huh? Darn Heartless"

He pulled something from under the counter and went to the door.

"Move" he said as he pushed them back.

Hikari panicked.

"Don't!" She cried.

"If you open the door, you'll…"

She never got to finish her sentence because the man was shooting a flame thrower at the creatures.

"You're bad for business, creeps!" he yelled.

After the creatures were brunt to a crisp, he went inside.

He looked at Sora and Hikari for a moment.

"You two new around here?" he asked.

Sora nodded.

"Um… what were those creatures?" Hikari asked.

The man messed with the toothpick in his mouth.

"Those were heartless" He said.

"The heartless are monsters that feed on people's hearts. Haven't seen them in this part of town for a while. Must've found something really delicious"

Hikari shuddered.

Know she knew what those creatures were called.

"_So those creatures I keep remembering are called Heartless, huh? A fitting name for them"_

Sora went up to the man.

"Hey gramps, is this another world?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"I was on this island" Sora explained.

"Next thing I know, my friend and I end up in this town. We also lost track of our friends, Riku and Kairi"

The man sat up on the counter.

"This here is Traverse Town, a place for people who've lost their homes" He said.

"_Traverse Town! So that's what this place was called!" _Hikari remembered.

"You're friends are probably on their way too"

Relief flooded Sora's face.

"By the way, you never did tell me your names" the man asked.

"I'm Cid"

"_Cid?" _Hikari thought.

"_He's your uncle Cid, remember?" _The voice asked.

She suddenly remembered him.

* * *

_Hikari ran up to Cid as he was working on some sort of ship._

"_Uncle Cid!"_

_The old man looked from what he was doing and grinned._

"_Well if it isn't little Hikari"_

_He picked her up when she wrapped her arms around his leg._

"_What are you doing?" she asked as she looked at the ship he was working on._

"_This here is my newest creation. I call it a Gummi Ship"_

_Hikari giggled at the name._

"_With this little beauty, I'll be able to travel all over the place, including different worlds"_

_Hikari jumped in his arms._

"_Can I go too?"_

_The pilot grinned._

"_Sure why not? But we need to give it a name first. Do you know any good names?"_

_Hikari thought for a moment._

"_How about ….Highwind!"_

_Cid laughed._

"_You sure are your mother's daughter. She said the same exact thing when I mention I was building this ship"_

_Hikari grinned._

"_Do you like it then?"_

"_Yep, we'll call it Highwind then"_

"_Yay!"_

* * *

"_Of course, Uncle Cid" _She thought.

"_He brought Ni-san and I here when we got separated from mom"_

She looked at Cid and noticed that he hadn't changed at all.

Sora jabbed his thumb at himself.

"I'm Sora" he said.

Hikari waved shyly at him.

"I'm Hikari"

Cid paled as if he saw a ghost.

He then looked at her hard as if searching for something.

Hikari started to feel uncomfortable.

"Um…is something wrong?"

Cid snapped out of his trance.

"Uh, no, it's nothing"

He scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway, why don't you look around to see if your friends are here" he suggested.

Sora shrugged

"I guess it's worth a shot"

Hikari nodded.

She was desperate to find Riku.

"You both come back anytime you need help, ok?"

They both nodded and left.

Just as Hikari was about to step outside, Cid stopped her.

"Wait"

She turned around to face Cid.

"Yes?"

The pilot studied her.

"Do you know who I am?"

Hikari slowly nodded.

"You're Uncle Cid, right? I think I remember talking to you about naming your ship Highwind"

Cid looked at her for a moment then suddenly went up to her.

He pulled her into a tight hug and wouldn't let go.

"My god. So you really are little Hikari" His voice cracked as if he was about to cry.

"The last time that I saw you, you were only 5 years old"

He wiped the tears that pooled in his eyes.

"You've really grown. You look just like your mother"

Hikari gave him a small smile.

"It's good to see you, Uncle Cid"

Cid pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Take this, you'll need it"

He handed her a case of potions.

"You be careful out there, you hear me? I don't want you vanishing like you did before. It tore your brother up when you disappeared"

Hikari looked at him.

"He's here?"

"Yep"

Hikari looked at the ground.

"I see"

Cid ruffled her hair.

"You better get going now. Don't want to keep your friend waiting, now do you?"

Hikari nodded.

"Right"

She ran out of the shop and chased after Sora.

Cid sighed as he leaned against the counter.

"Leon will be glad to see her" he said to himself.

* * *

As Hikari looked around Traverse Town, she went over a memory that she probed from Cid when he hugged her.

_Flashback_

_Leon ran through the first district with Cid at his heels._

_The teen frantically looked around with a worried look on his face._

"_Hikari! Hikari!" He shouted._

_Cid looked around for the little girl too._

_It was too dangerous for her to be out by herself._

_Three other people ran up to them from their search._

_They were all female that were around Leon's age._

_The first one had shot black hair and brown eyes._

_The second one had long brown hair put into a braid and green eyes._

_The third one looked just like the other brunet except her brown hair was shoulder length and she had darker green eyes._

"_Any luck with you guys?" Cid asked._

_The black haired girl shook her head._

"_Aeirth, Mikomi and I looked through every alley and waterway. She's know where be found"_

_Leon fell to his hands and knees._

"_Damn it!" he cried._

_He slammed his fist into the ground over and over again until Cid stopped him_

""_We'll find her. Leon. She's probably hiding from the heartless or something"_

_Leon shook his head._

"_She was sucked up by a black hole. She could be anywhere"_

_The girl known as Mikomi knelt next to him and patted his back._

"_We'll find her, so don't worry. We'll pull an all nighter until we find her"_

"_You can count me out on that part" Cid said._

"_I can help you search, but not all through the night. I'm not as strong as I used to be"_

"_That's because you're getting old" the black haired girl said._

_Cid glared at her._

"_Quiet, Yuffie"_

_Leon just looked at the ground._

"_I need to find her" He said quietly._

"_I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to her"_

"_She'll be back, Leon" Aerith said._

"_Your hearts are connected since your family. She'll return soon"_

_Leon didn't say anything as he stood._

"_I'm not going to wait for that to happen" he said._

"_I need to find my sister"_

_He ran off again and shouted Hikari's name._

_Mikomi sighed._

"_He's as bad as my brother"_

"_That's for sure" Yuffie said._

_The girls ran off after Leon and continued their search._

_Cid sighed._

"_These kids are going to be the death of me"_

_He ran after them and continued his search for Hikari._

_End Flashback_

Her heart ached as she saw the memory.

"_Ni-san looked so torn. He must have been really upset when I disappeared"_

Sora looked at her when he saw her stop.

"You ok, Hikari?"

Hikari snapped back into reality and nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking about something"

"Well, let's go. Riku and Kairi should be here by now"

She nodded and followed Sora.

"_I wonder if I'll see Ni-san here?" _She thought as they continued their search.

* * *

After an hour of searching, they came back to the first district.

"I don't see them anywhere" Sora said.

Hikari fiddled with her lucky charm.

"Maybe they're not here yet" She suggested.

Sora just sighed.

"Let's just look around again"

They both went to walk away when a voice stopped them.

"They'll keep coming after you…so long as you wield the keyblade"

They turned around to see a man with a gunblade in his hand.

Hikari noticed that he had a scar running down his face.

She grabbed her lucky charm.

"_Oh my god! Is he…is he my brother?! Is he Leon?!"_

Sora saw Hikari looking a little scared.

He drew out his keyblade and charged at the man.

The man reacted quickly and blocked all of Sora's attacks.

Hikari watched defensively as Sora fought.

Her head kept swimming with images of her brother when he was younger.

The fight didn't last long since Sora passed out.

This guy was obviously stronger than Sora.

"I think you over did it Squall" A girl said.

Hikari turned to the left to see two girls walking down the steps.

She recognized them from Cid's memory.

"_Yuffie! Mikomi!"_

Leon's eye twitched at his name.

"That's Leon" He said.

Mikomi waved her hand.

"Whatever, _Leon_. What are you going to do about that kid? We need him and you knocked him out"

"He started it"

"Now you're starting to sound like a kid"

"And you're starting to get on my nerves"

Hikari, who she didn't realized she was holding her breath this whole time, suddenly gasped.

Leon turned around and spotted her.

When she saw his face, she just knew that this was her brother.

"L-Leon?"

The man's eyes widen a bit.

"How do you know my name?"

He saw the charm that she was holding and paled.

"That's…"

Hikari's vision suddenly blurred.

All of the images that flashed through her head before became too much for her.

She felt her body fall forward , but she never felt the hard ground.

Leon ran when he saw her falling and caught her just as she was about to hit the floor.

He held her in his arms and looked at her closely.

"Hikari?" he asked in disbelief.

She looked up at his worried face and gave him a weak smile.

"Ni-san" she mumbled before passing out.

Leon held her close to him.

A tear ran down his face as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"It's really you" he said quietly.

"I've finally found you after all this time….Hikari"

* * *

**A/N: So Hikari was reunited with her brother. I'm sure you all figured it out who it was when I mentioned the scar and the gunblade from the last chapter.**

**As for Mikomi, she's an OC from my other story called Konohagakure's Unlikely Alliance. If you like Naruto and Final Fantasy 7 crossovers, then I suggest that you read it.**

**Anyway, you know what to do.**

**Just hit the review button and tell me what you thought about this chapter.**

**Ja ne**


	6. Armored Heartless

Chapter 6: Armored Heartless

**A/N: Here's the next installment to the story. As the chapter explains, there will be a fight. I can't promise anything about it being awesome since I suck at fighting scenes. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I just own my oc.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Leon held Hikari to his chest as they arrived to Traverse Town. _

_They had just gotten away from their home world when the heartless invaded it with a few of their friends. _

_Cid looked around the area to check if it was safe._

"_It doesn't seem like there are any heartless around here" he said._

_Mikomi sighed sadly._

"_I can't believe this even happened. Why did those stupid heartless have to come to our world?"_

_Leon smoothed Hikari's hair down as she kept crying._

_After they were saved by their mother from those giant heartless beings, they couldn't find her at all. _

_Leon feared that she wasn't able to get away and didn't make it._

_Hikari cried harder into his shirt._

_Leon rocked her back and forth slightly._

"_Shh, its ok, Hikari" he said._

_Hikari just buried her face deeper into his chest._

"_I want mommy!" she cried._

_Leon just held her close and rubbed her back._

"_Mom isn't here right now. She'll probably show a little bit later"_

_He doubted that she would come, but he had to cheer his sister up._

_Hikari looked at her brother with tears in her eyes._

"_Really?"_

_Leon gave her a small smile._

"_Yeah, she'll be here in no time"_

_Hikari looked away sadly._

"_But what if she doesn't?"_

"_Then I'll be here" _

_He brushed her bangs out of her face._

"_I'll take care of you, Hikari. You're big brother will always be here for you"_

_Hikari gave him a small smile._

_She closed her eyes and rested her head back on his chest._

_Leon kissed the top of her head as he followed Cid._

"_I'll protect you, no matter what" he said softly._

* * *

Hikari's eyes fluttered open slowly.

She noticed that she was lying on a bed in some sort of room.

She sat up slowly and rubbed her head.

"_Ugh, my head" _she thought.

She turned around when she saw slight movement from the corner of her eye.

At the edge of her bed she saw Leon sitting down, looking at her with a serious yet concerned look on his face.

"So you're awake" he said.

She nodded slowly.

Leon was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

"Do you know who I am? He asked.

Hikari nodded again.

"You're my older brother, right?"

Leon nodded.

"I can't believe you're actually here" he said quietly.

"I've been looking for you this whole time and you're actually here"

Hikari grabbed her lucky charm that hung around her neck.

Leon smirked slightly.

"I see you still have that. You never did go anywhere without it"

Hikari looked around the room for a second.

"Sora"

"He's in the other room" Leon explained.

"But before we see him, I want to know what's happened to you after we got separated"

Hikari fiddled with her lucky charm.

"Well, I ended up on an island" she began.

"I didn't remember anything at first; I didn't know who I was, let alone my name. I meet Sora, Riku and Kairi and became friends with them. They looked after me and treated me as a member of their little group"

Leon was quiet for a moment as he let this all sink in.

He looked at her suddenly.

"If you didn't remember anything, how did you know who I was?"

"After I woke up on the islands, I started regaining my memories little by little. The only things that I remember so far are you, mom, and a few other people"

Everything was quiet for a moment.

Leon stood up and went to a nearby table.

Hikari saw him pick something up and handed it to her.

Leon held out her keyblade to her, she slowly grabbed it.

"You need to be careful with that" he said.

"That's what the heartless are after"

Images of the black and yellow blobs appeared in her head.

She looked at her brother and nodded.

She was hesitant at first, but she went up to Leon and hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad to see you, Ni-san" she said.

"I remembered all of the happy times we spent together and when you took care of me when we arrived here. I'm glad to see you after all this time"

Leon stared at her for a moment but then he returned the hug.

After they let go, Leon went to a door.

"Let's go see how Sora's doing"

Hikari nodded and followed Leon.

* * *

Hikari found Sora lying on a bed.

Yuffie and Mikomi were standing in the room as well.

She remembered them. They were her brother's friends.

"Yuffie? Mikomi?"

The girls turned around and saw her.

Their eyes went wide when they saw who it was.

"No way" Mikomi said.

Yuffie walked up to her.

"Hikari?"

She nodded slowly.

Yuffie's face lit up as she hugged her.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it's really you!"

Mikomi ran over to them and joined in the hug.

"You've gotten so big! Leon has been searching for you this whole time! You're actually here!"

Another girl with long hair came into the room.

Hikari recognized her

"Aerith!"

The woman smiled.

"I knew you would come back, Hikari" she said.

"You sure have grown since I last saw you"

She smiled at the older woman.

She didn't realized how much she missed everyone until she saw them.

They heard Sora groan slightly.

Yuffie let Hikari go and went up to Sora.

"You ok?"

Sora's eyes fluttered open.

"Kairi?" he asked.

Yuffie put her hands on her hips.

"Kairi? My name is Yuffie!"

Sora jumped up from his bed.

"I think you overdid it, Squall" Mikomi said.

Leon gave her a dirty look.

"That's Leon"

Sora looked around and spotted Hikari.

"Hikari"

Leon went up to Sora and handed him his keyblade.

"That keyblade you have, that's what the heartless are searching for. I concealed your heart and Hikari's so they wouldn't find you"

Sora began to panic slightly.

"H-hey! What's going on? Make some sense!"

They heard loud banging noises coming from outside.

"Leon!" Yuffie cried.

Leon grimaced.

"Darn, they're here"

He turned to Sora and Hikari.

"I'll explain everything later, right now follow me"

They all ran outside to see tons of heartless.

"So many of them, there must be a boss somewhere" Mikomi said as she pulled out her samurai sword.

Leon drew out his gunblade and turned to Sora.

"Don't bother with the small fries, look for the boss"

He turned to Hikari.

"Stay with Sora and make sure you get rid of the boss and be careful"

She nodded.

Leon ran off and slashed at the heartless.

Mikomi went up to Hikari and handed her a potion.

"Here, you'll need this"

She looked at the potion, then at Mikomi.

"Thanks"

Mikomi smiled.

"It's no big deal. You and were best friends when we were little, I'm just looking out for you"

She ran after Leon to fight off the heartless.

Sora grabbed Hikari's arm.

"Let's go"

Hikari nodded.

"Right"

* * *

They ran into the third district.

Heartless were everywhere.

Hikari ran forward and started slashing at them.

"_I'm not going to let Sora do all of the fighting! Even girls can fight too!"_

Every time she moved, it would seem as if she were dancing.

Every time she swung her keyblade, it would be as if it were a blur of light.

Hikari continued fighting with Sora when she heard people talking.

"Fight, Goofy, Fight!"

"I'm trying Donald!"

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm falling!"

Suddenly, a duck and a dog appeared out of nowhere and landed on top of Sora and Hikari.

They both saw their keyblades and beamed.

"The Keys!"

* * *

The ground suddenly started to rumble.

"What the? What's going on?" Donald said.

Suddenly, a giant armored heartless appeared in from of them.

"Not again!" Sora whined.

The heartless swept its claw at Hikari.

Goofy blocked it with his shield.

"We'll back you up!" Donald said.

"So let's fight together" Goofy added.

The heartless shot a beam at Sora.

"Sora!" Hikari cried.

"Cure!" Donald yelled.

Sora's injuries instantly healed.

"Thanks!"

Hikari ran at the heartless and slid in between its legs.

She swung her keyblade and made the heartless trip over and fall.

The others took that as their opportunity to attack while it was still down.

Sora managed to destroy one of its arms while Goofy got one of the legs.

The heartless got up and started attacking again.

Everyone was having a hard time since it was attacking more.

"_You'd think that it would attack less without an arm and a leg" _Hikari thought.

She suddenly remembered something Riku told her when he was teaching her how to fight.

"_Whenever you're facing a large enemy, always aim for the head"_

She looked around the area and saw a ledge that was high enough for her to attack.

She ran for the ledge and dodged the heartless' attacks when they were aimed for her.

She reached the edge and jumped off.

"Take this!"

She smashed her keyblade against the heartless' head and cracked it in half.

The heartless crumpled to pieces as its heart floated up in the sky freely.

Hikari went over to Sora and high-fived him.

"Victory!"

* * *

**A/N: I hoped you liked this chapter. I wanted to get something in before Easter Holiday.**

**If this chapter lacked any action, I apologize. As you can tell, I suck at writing action scenes, just read my other fanfics and you'll see.**

**Please send in your reviews and tell me what you thought.**

**JA ne**


	7. On a New Voyage

Chapter 7: On a New Voyage

**A/N: Hey everyone! Now is where the adventures begin! I wonder what our heroes have in store as they set off to find their beloved friends.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just my OC's.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking" _

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So….you were searching for us?"

Donald and Goofy had told Sora and Hikari about their situation.

"They too have been seeking the wielders of the keyblades" Leon said.

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Goofy asked.

"We can go to other worlds in our ship!"

Sora's face fell.

"Riku and Kairi" he said sadly.

"We'll find them too!" Donald said.

Hikari could hear Goofy whisper something to Donald but she didn't know what it was about.

"Sora, go with them" Leon said.

"Especially if you want to find your friends"

Hikari turned to her brother.

"What about me, Ni-san?"

Sora jumped a little.

"Ni-san?"

"Leon's my older brother" Hikari said.

"The one I keep remembering about that was from my original world"

Leon looked at Sora.

"Go with Sora" he said.

"And I expect you to take care of my little sister or else" Leon said.

Sora nodded.

Hikari turned to Donald and Goofy.

"So who are you guys anyway?"

"Donald Duck"

"The name's Goofy"

"I'm Sora"

"Hikari"

They all placed their hands in the middle.

"All for one and one for all" Goofy cheered.

* * *

Off in a distant world, a group of shadows watched as Sora and Hikari got acquainted with Donald and Goofy.

"Those little squirts took down that heartless!"

"Such is the power if the keyblades, the children's strength is not their own, well, except the girl's"

"Turn them into heartless, that'll settle things quick enough"

"Those two must be the king's lackeys, a couple of bilge rats by the looks of them"

"You're no price yourself"

"Shut up, you!"

"Enough!"

The shadows turned to the sorceress, Maleficent.

"The blades have chosen them" She said.

"Will they conquer the darkness…or will it devour them?"

She then looked at Hikari.

"As for her, will she be the light within the darkness…or will it corrupt her like her mother?"

* * *

"All right, let's go!" Sora cried.

Hikari jumped up and down slightly.

"So where's the ship?" she asked.

"Wait a second you two" Donald said.

"We'll be going to many places, but you can't tell anyone that we're from another world"

"Why not?" Hikari asked.

"We gotta protect the world border" Goofy said.

"The 'order'" Donald corrected.

"The order of the worlds are being disrupted…due by the heartless" Leon said.

"What are they?" Sora asked.

"Heartless…those without hearts" Leon said.

He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Sora.

"A researcher named Ansem filed a report on the heartless"

The others skimmed over the paper.

"_Ansem…where have I heard that name before? It sounds so familiar" _Hikari thought.

"It might help solve the mystery, but...the report is scattered everywhere, so we can't find it all" Mikomi said.

Hikari looked up from the report.

"You mean different worlds?"

Leon nodded.

"Hey, maybe the king is looking for the report" Goofy said.

Leon gave the group a serious look.

"The heartless feed off the darkness in people's hearts. Watch yourselves; there is darkness in every heart"

* * *

They followed Donald and Goofy back to the first district.

Hikari wanted to give Leon a hug goodbye, but she figured he wouldn't want to be hug in front of his friends.

"Wait!"  
They turned around to see Yuffie running up to them.

"You can't leave yet! We have stuff to give you!"

She pulled Hikari's arm and dragged her back to the others.

Everyone was waiting for them by Cid's shop.

"You can't go on a journey without the proper supplies" Mikomi said.

Everyone gave them a large sum of Munny and a set of potions and Ethers.

Mikomi held up a necklace that had a white wing at the end of it.

She placed it in Hikari's hand.

"Hold on to this" She said.

"It was my brother's lucky charm. It's kept me safe while being here. I want you to hold onto it while you travel. Who knows, maybe it's come in handy"

Hikari looked at the charm in her hand, then at Mikomi.

"Mikomi"

She hugged her tightly.

"I'll try to regain every single memory of you, I promise."

Mikomi patted her back.

"You take your time with it. Just know that your best friend will always remember you"

Hikari let her go and nodded.

"Right"

She turned to Leon and slowly went up to him.

"Ni-san"

Leon gave her a slight smirk and held out his arms.

"Come on. I know you want a hug"

Hikari's face lit and she ran into Leon's arms.

He hugged her tightly and rocked her back and forth like he used to when she saw little.

"Promise me you'll be safe, ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I will. I'll stop by and see how everything is going too"

Leon gave her a smirk and hugged her again.

As the brother and sister enjoyed their little reunion, Hikari picked through Leon's memories to see which was his fondest memory of her.

* * *

_Hikari giggled as she hid behind one of the bookshelves._

_She was playing hide and seek with her brother and Leon was it._

_She spotted Leon coming around the corner with a mischievous look on his face._

"_Now I wonder where Hikari went?"_

_She stifled her laugher as she hid further behind the bookshelf._

_She saw Leon stop by her hiding place and looked around a bit before walking off again._

_After a while, she figured her brother was far away for her to laugh._

_She suddenly felt someone lift her up in the air._

_She looked down to see her brother holding her up with a triumphant look on his face._

"_Found you" he said._

_Hikari just laughed some more when her brother started tickling her._

_Leon continued to tickle her when Mikomi and Yuffie came into the library. _

_Mikomi placed her hands on her hips._

"_What are you two doing?"_

"_We're playing hide and seek!" Hikari cried._

"_Wanna play?"_

_Yuffie just shrugged._

"_Sure, why not"_

_Leon was it again and he started counting._

_Hikari smiled as she went back to hiding. _

_It was so much fun playing with her older brother._

* * *

As she left with Sora, she simply smiled.

"_Ni-san must really care about me if he can remember something like that"_

She made a mental note to thank her brother for cherishing those memories when she saw him again

* * *

**A/N: So Maleficent knows about Hikari's mother, that can't be good knowing what she does for a living.**

**I know it was short, but I thought you would want something for Easter. **

**Tell me what you thought and I'll update soon.**

**You guys want to guess who Mikomi's brother is? We're bound to see him soon.**

**Ja ne**


	8. Wonderland

Chapter 8: Wonderland

**A/N: Hurray! We're on our first actual world chapter! How exciting! I wonder what adventures are in stored for Hikari.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the sexy Riku. I do own Hikari though.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The group arrived at the Gummi ship.

"Welcome to our Gummi ship" Donald said as they got in.

Sora's eyes bugged out when he saw all the stuff that was inside.

"Wow!"

He began running around.

"Wow! Look at this! Check this out! Cool!"

He went to run to another object, but something hit him.

"That's enough!" A pair of high squeaky voices said.

"Will you stop touching everything you see?"

Hikari looked down to find two chipmunks.

"We're trying to keep this place clean!" one said.

"Don't make a mess, okay?" said the other.

Hikari picked up the two chipmunks.

"Those are Chip 'n' Dale" Donald said.

"They're the mechanics of the Gummi Ship"

Hikari looked back at Chip and Dale. She smiled and suddenly cuddled them.

"They're so cute!" she squealed.

Chip and Dale struggled out of her grip.

"Hey! Let us go! You're squeezing us!"

* * *

She followed the others up into the cockpit and took a seat.

A little cricket wearing a fancy suit stood on the dash board.

"Hello there! My name is Jiminy Cricket! I'm here to record everyone's journey while we're off traveling to different worlds"

Hikari smiled at the little cricket and shook his hand with her pinky.

"Hello, Jiminy. My name is Hikari and the boy with the spiky brown hair is Sora"

Donald went over to the controller.

"Everybody ready?" Donald asked as he sat at the controller.

Chip and Dale began pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"Take the engine to full throttle!" Chip cried.

"Aye aye, sir!" Dale replied.

Donald pushed a button and started the ship.

The Gummi ship zoomed off, causing Sora and Hikari to be pushed back into their seats. When the ship slowed down a bit, they got out of their seats and looked outside. They saw so many stars that it illuminated the whole area.

"Amazing" Hikari breathed.

"If only Riku and Kairi could see this" Sora added.

After looking outside for a tiny bit, Hikari went back to her seat. The swaying of the ship relaxed her in a way.

She couldn't believe that she was actually going to travel to different worlds.

Riku's dream was finally coming true.

Thinking about Riku made her frown a little.

She didn't know where he was and it made her worry.

Was he alright? Was he able to get off the island? Did he face that giant heartless?

So many thoughts ran through her brain that it made her head spin.

She needed to take her mind off of Riku for the moment. She needed to distract herself, and she knew the best way to do that.

Deciding to use her little memory trick, she decided to probe through everyone's memories to try to get to know them better.

"_For once, my powers come in handy"_ She thought.

Her first victim was Sora. She didn't know what happened to him before they fought that heartless, so now she was going to find out.

She closed her eyes and focused deeply on Sora's heart and looked through his deepest memories.

* * *

_Sora ran across the island. He had spotted Riku and Kairi's boats tied up to the dock, so that meant they were checking on the raft as well. _

_He couldn't spot them anywhere on the island. _

_As he ran, he felt the urge to go to the secret place. Following his instincts, he ran to the opening hidden next to the waterfall and ran through the dark pathway that lead to an opening._

_Kairi stood in the center of the cave, her back facing him. She seemed to be looking at some type of door that was in the back of the cave._

"_Kairi!" Sora called._

_She turned around slowly. She had a dazed look upon her face as if she was half asleep or something._

"_Sora" She said slowly._

_The door suddenly burst opened and wind blasted from the other side._

_Kairi went flying and was headed for Sora. He held his arms out while he rooted himself in place._

"_Kairi!" he cried._

_He wrapped his arms around her, but she vanished before he could grab her._

"_What?!"_

_The wind blasted him out of the cave. He got up on his feet as Hikari ran off the docks to the island._

_Sora spotted her and ran to her._

* * *

"_So that's what happened to Kairi" _she thought.

Sora's memory puzzled her greatly.

Why did Kairi act like a zombie? And why was she at the cave when she should have been checking on the raft?

What puzzled her more was the door in the cave. That door has been there since she could remember and she never saw it open. She just thought it was just a piece of wood used to seal off a hole that was in the cave, or if it was just some type of decoration. She didn't understand why it had suddenly opened then of all times.

"_Could it have anything to do with our world being destroyed?"_

It was a mystery to her.

Speaking of mysteries, their little animal friends were a little fishy to her. She didn't understand why they needed her and Sora. They didn't say much about it.

She looked between Donald and Goofy.

The duck looked like it would know a lot more than the dog, so she decided to pick at his memories and get information.

* * *

_Donald ran through the gardens of what appeared to be a castle. His arms flailed around as he held a piece of paper in his hand._

"_My Goodness! The King! The King!"_

_He came to an abrupt halt when he saw Goofy sleeping in the gardens. _

"_Goofy! Wake up!" _

_The dog simply turned over in his sleep. _

_The magician grew impacient and blasted Goofy with a lightning spell. _

_The dog jumped up and was being shaken by Donald. _

"_Goofy! Pull yourself together!" he cried._

"_The King!"_

"_King?" Goofy asked._

_Donald covered his mouth._

"_Shh!...don't make a commotion!" he whispered._

"_Listen, you can't tell anyone else, ok? The king-"_

"_Donald, what's all the commotion?"_

_Donald froze when he heard a feminine voice. _

_He slowly turned around to see Queen Minnie and his girlfriend, Daisy staring at him._

* * *

"_The King disappeared?!" Daisy cried._

_Donald had told them the situation._

"_When I came to say my morning greeting today, he was gone" he said._

_He pulled out the letter. _

"_Pluto was holding this letter in his mouth"_

_Said dog was sleeping in his bed._

_Queen Minnie took the letter and read it over._

"_Dear Donald, _

_ Please forgive me for leaving so suddenly…but trouble is brewing and there's no time to lose. I'm not sure why, but the stars have been blinking out…one by one. Hate to leave you, but I have to check this out. As King, I have a favor to ask you and Goofy. There are two people out there with keys- the keys to our survival. I need you and Goofy to find them and stick with them, got it? Without those keys….we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon._

_PS. One of the key bearers is a girl, so make sure you and Goofy protect her. She plays a big role in our survival. What it is, I do not know._

_ Sincerely, _

_ King Mickey."_

_Queen Minnie reread the letter over and over again. _

"_Traverse Town"_

_Daisy's eyes lit up._

"_Another world!" She cried._

_The others looked surprised and worried._

"_What does this mean?" Goofy asked._

"_It means that we must trust the King" Queen Minnie said._

* * *

"_So that explains why they were looking for us. We're the key to their survival. But how? I don't have any special powers except my little memory trick, and I highly doubt Sora has any special tricks besides being annoying at times and fighting"_

Hikari rubbed her forehead in frustration.

None of the memories made sense.

Why did Kairi vanish like that? And how was she and Sora the key to everyone's survival.

"_You'll just have to find out as you travel, my dear" _The voice said in her head.

That was another thing that bugged her. Why was she able to hear this voice inside her head? It sounded so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"_Perhaps I'll figure it out as I travel. I'm still regaining my memories after all"_

The ship suddenly came to a halt.

"Here we are! Our first world!" Donald cried.

Sora ran to the front window to get a better view of the world.

"Which world is this?"

"It's Wonderland" Jiminy said.

Hikari looked excited. Perhaps this was her home world.

When they reached the back of the ship, Donald faced them.

"Now don't jump out too hastily" he said.

He opened the back door and looked around.

"Always look left and right" he said.

He and Goofy stepped out.

Sora and Hikari panicked when they looked down.

"Careful you guys!" Sora cried.

"That's the spirit" Donald said, oblivious to what was going on.

"No, look down!" Hikari said.

"Down?"

Donald and Goofy looked below to see nothing but a black hole and that they were standing in mid-air.

They panicked and tried to get back on the ship, but they ended up pulling Sora and Hikari down with them.

They all screamed as they went down the hole and landed in a giant heap with Hikari on top.

"Owie" she whimpered as she got up.

Just as Donald was getting up, a white rabbit stepped on his head.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers!" it cried.

Hikari helped Donald up as it ran off.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

They saw the rabbit run down a hallway.

"What the?" Sora said.

They got up and followed the strange creature.

They could hear it rambling as they followed it down the hallway.

"Oh, dear, I'm here! I should be there! She'll have my head for sure!"

They ran after the white rabbit.

"Wait, you silly rabbit!" Hikari cried.

They ended up in what appeared to be a sort of room.

They looked around for the rabbit.

"Where did he go?" Goofy asked.

Sora looked at the ground.

"There he is!"

He pointed to the rabbit, but he was about the size of an ant.

Hikari shrieked as he ran across the floor like a little bug.

The rabbit ran up to a door that appeared to be sleeping and went to the other side.

Sora got to his hands and knees and peered at the door.

"How did he get so small?" he asked.

"No, you're simply too big" the door said in a tired voice.

Everyone jumped when they heard the door speak.

"It's a talking door!" Donald cried.

Goofy waved at it.

"Good morning"

"Good night" The door said.

He yawned and went back to sleep.

"Hey, wait! How can we get through?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked around the room and spotted a table standing in the middle with a bottle placed on it.

She went over to it and picked it up. The words 'drink me' was written on it.

She opened the cap and took a whiff of the liquid inside.

"_Smells like liquorices" _She thought.

She looked at the others still trying to wake the door up.

"Hey, guys. Look at this"

She showed them the bottle.

"I think we're suppose to drink this or something"

Donald looked at the bottle suspiciously.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea" he said.

Hikari shrugged.

"Come on. Nothing bad can happen from a little bottle. Maybe this is how that white rabbit got so small"

Sora took the bottle from her and examined it.

"I guess it's worth a shot"

They all took a sip and they immediately shrunk to the size of an ant.

"Hey! It worked!" Hikari said.

"The outside world is so mysterious!" Sora cried.

"I think this is a little _too _mysterious" Donald said.

Sora went up to the door and grabbed the handle.

"Now let's see if we can get in"

He jiggled the handle a bit, but the door wouldn't budge. It kept on sleeping, not caring that anyone wanted to get in.

"Hey! Let us through! Wake up!"

Goofy spotted an opening within the wall.

"Hey, Sora. I think we can go through this way"

Hikari followed them through. At least they were smart enough to look for another way in.

They ended up in what appeared to be a garden maze.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder" Hikari said.

A trumpet could be heard a little ways off.

"That must be where the white rabbit is" Goofy said.

They followed the noise until they entered to what appeared to be some sort of court session. There was a young girl who was standing before a rather fat and ugly queen.

"_Yikes, she's butt ugly" _Hikari thought.

The white rabbit blew the trumpet once more.

"The court is now in session!" he cried.

The queen waved her fan as she studied the girl before her.

"This girl is the culprit! There's no doubt about it! And do you know why?...Because I say so! That's why!"

"What the hell?" Hikari said.

"This girl is guilty because that fat hippo says so?"

"Hikari! Shh!" Sora said.

The girl that was being accused didn't take this so well.

"That is completely unfair! I've done nothing wrong! You may be the queen…but that doesn't give you the right to be so.. so mean!"

Everyone in the court gasped at that. No one dared to talk back to the queen.

"Silence!" the queen cried.

"How dare you defy me!"

She slammed her hammer down.

"Guilty as charged! For the crime of attempted theft of my heart!"

That caught Sora and Hikari's attention.

"Hey! We have to help her" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"The heartless might be involved with this"

Donald didn't look pleased.

"If we do that, then we'll be interfering with their world"

"Which isn't good" Goofy added.

A tick mark appeared over Hikari's forehead.

"So you're telling me that we should let that girl get blamed for something that she didn't do? We're already interfering with this world by coming here. What harm will come of this if we help her?"

"No, Hikari. We can't let anyone know we're here" Donald said.

Hikari grew annoyed with the duck.

"Uh, guys" Sora said.

They watched as a few guards made out of cards surrounded the girl.

"Off with her head!" the queen cried.

The girl panicked.

"Oh no! Please!"

Sora and Hikari couldn't take this anymore. They ran in the middle of the court and shoved the guards out of the way.

"Hold it right there!"

Donald groaned at their stupidity and ran after them.

The queen glared at her intruders.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court!"

Goofy stepped back in fear.

Hikari just stuck her tongue out at the queen.

"Shut up! You fat, ugly hippo!"

The queen growled at her.

Sora quickly got to the heart of the matter before the queen ordered to chop off Hikari's head.

"We know who the real culprit is!"

Goofy nodded.

"Yeah, it's the heart-"

Donald covered his mouth.

"If you say the name, we'll be deeply interfering with this world!" he whispered.

"We have to keep the heartless a secret"

The queen studied them, but still glared at them.

"What nonsense" She said.

"Have you any proof?"

"Proof?" Sora asked.

Hikari nudged him in the side.

"How are we supposed to let her know it's the heartless when we can't show her?" She whispered.

"Our voice alone won't be able to change her mind"

Sora nodded.

Leave to Hikari to come up with a plan.

"We have proof, but you have to make sure nothing happens to that girl while we get it. Otherwise you'll regret it greatly" Hikari said.

The queen glared at her.

"Very well. Bring me the proof of her innocence or it's off with _all _of your heads! Till then, court is adjourned!"

Alice as placed into a cage for the time being.

Hikari looked at her.

"Don't worry, we'll find the real criminal!"

Alice smiled at her.

"Go find the Cheshire cat! He may help you"

The curtain around the cage covered her.

"You may not speak with the defendant!" A guard said.

"Get going!"

* * *

They left the court area and entered what appeared to be some sort of forest.

Donald was glaring at Sora and Hikari. He was mad that they got themselves involved with this world.

"Let's just tell that fat hippo that the heartless did it" Hikari said.

"We're already interfering with this world anyway"

"No!" Donald barked.

"Every person should keep living only in their own world. It'll just cause confusion. That's why we have to keep it a secret"

"Really? Well, that may or may not be true" A voice said.

They all looked up to see a cat sitting on a branch.

"Hey! A cat!" Hikari said.

The cat grinned at them.

"The Cheshire cat knows everything. All you have to do is avoid getting confused"

"Well, at least we don't have to look for the cat anymore" Goofy said.

The Cheshire cat dropped a box on Donald's head.

"Here you go" the cat said.

"What is this?" Hikari asked.

"The evidence you seek is in the box. Or is it?"

"Why would you give us a box that doesn't have the evidence?" Hikari asked.

"Are you just messing with us?"

The cat grinned and disappeared.

"To trust, or not to trust? I trust you'll decided"

"Trust" Hikari mumbled.

An image suddenly flashed through her head.

* * *

_Taiyouko seemed to be angry as she faced a man. His back was to her as she talked._

"_You have gone too far with these experiments of yours!" She shouted._

"_Your workings of the heart are threatening this world! How long must this world suffer before you are satisfied?!"_

_The man laughed deeply._

"_My dear Taiyouko"_

_He turned around, but his face remained blurry._

"_All I am doing is trying to understand the workings of the heart. A few mere casualties won't hinder this world"_

_Taiyouko slammed her fist on a table._

"_Those 'casualties' have resulted in people losing their hearts! They're not your gunnie pigs that you can use as you see fit! Stop this madness before it becomes worse than it is!"_

_The man just laughed again._

_He walked up to her and placed his hand on her face._

"_My darling Taiyouko" he said._

"_I'm trying to right the wrongs of the worlds. You'll have to let me continue with my research or else more individuals will lose their hearts….including your daughters"_

_Taiyouko paled at that._

_The man let go of her face and grabbed a lock of her long hair._

"_Do you trust me?" He asked._

_She pulled away from his grip._

_She looked at him with a weak glare._

"_I don't trust you. But I'll let you continue with your research for now. If things get out of hand, then I will deal with you personally"_

_The man laughed darkly._

"_As I would expect from someone like you"_

* * *

Hikari grabbed her forehead.

"_That was my mother" _She thought.

"_But why did I see that memory? I know it wasn't one of mine. Was it moms? How was I able to see it then if I didn't probe her memories? How was I able to see that after not seeing her for so long?"_

This was all too confusing to Hikari.

It seemed like her powers had a mind of their own.

Goofy patted her on the shoulder.

"Are you ok, Hikari?"

She gave the dog a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something"

Goofy grinned at her.

"Oh, ok. At least you're alrght"

She smiled.

She liked Goofy more than she liked Donald. The dog was a lot easier going than their duck companion.

Sora looked at the box that the Cheshire cat gave them.

"I wonder what's inside?"

He opened the box, only to reveal a heartless popping out.

"It's a heartless!"

The heartless ran off to where the court was being held.

"After it!"

They all ran back to the court, hoping that the queen didn't lose her heart.

* * *

"Your majesty!"

The queen turned just in time to see the heartless.

"What on earth is that thing?!"

Hikari destroyed the heartless before it could attack the queen.

"That's the real culprit!" She said.

"Now do you see that Alice is innocent? You have to let her go!"

The queen growled, but obliged.

The cage was brought down to their level and the curtain was pulled back.

Everyone gasped when they saw the cage was empty.

"Where is Alice!?" The queen barked.

"Find her at once!"

The card guards circled the others.

"This doesn't look good" Sora said.

"Off with their heads!" the queen cried.

Sora hacked through the cards.

"Let's get out of here!"

They ran back into the forest to hide for a bit.

* * *

"That Hippo is crazy!" Hikari retorted.

They had managed to get away from the guards.

"I wonder where Alice went?"

"Maybe the heartless took her?" Sora asked.

"But I thought the heartless attacked people on the spot?"

Donald shrugged.

'I'm not sure… but something must be manipulating the heartless. Something really evil"

Hikari sighed deeply.

"Well that's just made our situation from bad to worse"

She went to take a step forward, only to come face to face with the Cheshire cat.

She screamed and backed away.

"Might you be looking for Alice?" the cat asked.

"Yeah, do you know where she is?" Sora asked.

"No"

"Then what do you want!?" Hikari snapped.

She didn't like it that the cat scared her like that.

The cat shrugged.

"Well, I know where the shadow is"

They all looked at him strangely.

"If you want to know where it is, then follow me"

They all looked at one another and just shrugged.

"Fine, take us to it"

The cat gave them a creepy grin.

* * *

They wound up in the room where the sleeping door was.

Hikari looked around.

She noticed that something was different about the room. Lamps were lit all over the place and gave the room an eerie feeling to it.

"Did you know" The Cheshire cat asked.

"That when you turn on the light, a shadow is made?"

Just then, a heartless appeared from among the shadows on the floor. It unraveled itself and waved a set of flaming batons.

"Are you prepared for the worst?" The cat asked.

"If not…too bad"

"You tricked us!" Sora yelled.

"Tricked you? Nothing of the sort. The Cheshire cat is always here to help the weak"

They all dodged the Trickmaster's attack.

Hikari flipped away a few feet and studied their opponent.

"_Let's see…this guy likes to use fire, so I should stay away from those flaming batons. But how are we supposed to attack this thing without getting burnt?"_

"_The keyblade wielder should be able to use a little magic" _The voice said.

The tip of her white keyblade glowed for a moment before a bit of ice shot out of it.

"Huh?"

She held up her keyblade.

"I can use magic?"

She heard Donald yelped as the Trickmaster lit his tail on fire.

"Donald!"

She aimed her keybalde at the duck and fired off a blizzard spell at him

The flames died off when the ice made impact.

Sora looked at Hikari in amazement.

"How did you do that, Hikari?"

She just shrugged.

"I guess these keys can use magic. You try it"

Sora concentrated on his keyblade.

The tip of the key glowed and fire shot out of it.

"Hey, I did it!"

Hikari smiled.

"Way to go!"

The Trickmaster slammed its flaming batons to the ground.

"Put the batons out!"

Donald, and Hikari casted Blizzard on them and attacked the heartless while it still had its arms out.

It swatted them out of the way and went back on attacking.

Hikari hit one of the walls and fell down.

She rubbed her head and made sure it wasn't bleeding.

"Stupid Heartless" she grumbled.

She got up and went back to fighting the heartless.

She flipped out of the way as it swung its baton around.

Sora dodge rolled out of the way and was back to back with her.

"We're getting nowhere with this thing" Sora panted.

"Yeah, no kidding"

"We need to come up with a plan"

Hikari looked around the room to see if she could find something that would help them.

She spotted a faucet sticking out of the wall in a weird way.

That gave her an idea.

"I have a plan!" she said.

She whispered her idea to Sora.

"That could work" he said.

"Go tell Donald and Goofy what I have in mind"

He nodded and ran towards them while Hikari jumped on the furniture to get to the faucet.

She jumped up and landed on it while keeping her balance on the slippery metal.

"I hope this works" she said.

She aimed her keyblade at the tip of the faucet.

"You guys ready?!" she yelled.

The guys got in their positions and aimed their weapons at the heartless.

"Ready!" Hikari kicked the knob with her boot and watched as the water shot out.

It hit the Trickmaster dead on and put the fires.

"Now!" Hikari shouted.

She, Donald and Sora casted Blizzard at the same time and froze the heartless in place.

"Now Goofy!"

He flung his shield like a boomerang and hit the heartless in the chest.

The Trickmaster shattered to bits and released the heart it held captured.

Hikari jumped up and down on the faucet.

"We did it! It worked!"

She jumped off the faucet and landed on the ground gracefully.

Sora high fived her.

"That was awesome, Hikari! I would never have thought of that"

Hikari just giggled.

The doorknob was roused from his sleep.

"How can a doorknob sleep with all that racket?"

"How can you sleep at a time like this?!" Donald yelled.

The doorknob just yawned real loudly and opened his mouth real wide.

A key hole glimmered from within his mouth.

"A keyhole?"

Sora and Hikari's keyblade glowed and shot out a beam of light. It aimed for the keyhole and made a clicking noise as if it closed or something.

"What just happened?" Sora asked.

"It sounded like something just closed" Donald said.

A strange block tumbled out of the doorknobs mouth.

"Hey, it's a Gummi block" Goofy said.

"These are used to build our Gummi ship, although, I've never seen one like this one before"

The Cheshire cat appeared out of nowhere and applauded them.

"Splendid! You're quite the heroes. I can't wait to see what you do next"

"Just who are you exactly?" Sora asked.

The cat ignored his question.

"If you're looking for Alice, she's not here"

"Where did she go?" Hikari asked.

"I'm afraid she's gone. Gone with the shadows…into the darkness"

He disappeared with that.

Hikari grew puzzled.

"If she's gone…where could she have gone?"

* * *

Off in another world, Maleficent watched the keyblade bearers.

She laughed wickedly as they left Wonderland.

"It looks like my plans are going accordingly"

She rubbed her staff as she looked at Hikari.

"You're daughter is becoming quite a useful tool….Taiyouko"

She laughed evilly as she walked away.

* * *

**A/N: This is probably the longest chapter I've written for this story so far. Hope you guys liked it.**

**I wonder what Maleficent is going to do to Hikari? Only time will tell.**

**Remember to send your reviews and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	9. Deep Jungle

Chapter 9: Deep Jungle

**A/N: Hello everyone! I know I didn't keep some characters in the last chapter in character, so hopefully that won't happen again. Let's see how this chapter turns out. And if I'm going out of order to which worlds they go to next, then I apologize. I'm just going by what I've seen in walkthroughs and the version that I've played. **

**And just for the record, this story may tend to not follow the actual story line. This is about Hikari's perspective of the game, so obviously it's not going to be the same as Sora's. So if you don't like that I haven't been following the actual line, please don't be mad. It's a fanfiction after all, so it's going to be different. (Sorry if I sounded a little harsh, I'm just getting the facts straight) **

**Hopefully, this won't ruin your reviewing skills.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hikari sadly watched Wonderland as it got smaller and smaller.

After that little talk with the Cheshire Cat, they went back to the Gummi ship.

She sighed as she pressed her hand to the window.

She felt bad that they couldn't find Alice, but she was more upset that she didn't see Riku or Kairi.

"_We couldn't find anyone. No Alice…no King…and no Riku or Kairi"_

She closed her eyes sadly.

"_Riku…where are you? Are you safe? Are you ok?...Are you alive?"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Goofy placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Cheer up, Hikari. We'll find your friends"

Donald nodded from where he was steering the ship.

"We still have many worlds to search, so don't give up now"

Goofy pulled on her cheeks and made her smile.

"Remember, this ship runs on smiles. We don't want you to be sad. And a pretty girl always looks cute when she smiles"

Hikari had to grin at that. Goofy just knew what to say to make a girl feel better.

"Thanks Goofy. You're really sweet"

She pumped her fist in determination.

"And you're right! I can't give up now! We've just started this journey, so I shouldn't get depressed right away. Maybe we'll find them on the next world that we see"

"That's the spirit!" Goofy cheered.

Hikari looked at Sora to see that he was a little sad as well. She went over to him and gave him a noogie.

"Come on, Sora. Cheer up! We've barely started, so don't give up"

Sora gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Hikari"

She just grinned back at him before sitting back in her seat.

She swiveled around in her seat for a moment before looking at Donald.

"How far are we to our next world?"

"We won't be there for quite a while" the duck said.

"You have to be really careful when traveling like this. You don't know what's out there"

She just sighed and slumped in her seat. She could be a patient person, but she always hated waiting for things.

Sora was pretty much the same, only he wasn't as patient as her so he always had to look for something to distract him. And his greatest distraction was usually Hikari.

"Hey, Hikari. Why don't you use your memory trick?"

Donald and Goofy looked confused at them.

Hikari just shrugged at them.

"I have this special power where I can read people's memories. I find out a person's history if I touch them or if just make eye contact with them"

"Wow, that's pretty cool, Hikari" Goofy said.

"Yeah, but the only problem is that I can't even remember my own memories. I've been trying to regain my memories since I was little and I still can't remember everything"

"_Not to mention I've been seeing memories that don't belong to me. I have feeling that last memory I saw was moms. But why would I be seeing that if I haven't been by her. This is too weird"_

Sora jumped in his seat.

"Come on! See if you can look through someone's memories"

Hikari bit her lip.

"I don't know. I don't think that's such a good idea. It would be an invasion of privacy"

"_Even though I used it before"_

"I doubt you could find anything important" Donald said.

"There's no way you could see any of my memories"

Hikari got mad at that. Did he realize that she used her powers on him before when she was trying to figure out what he was up to before?

"Oh yeah?"

She went up to him and placed her hand on his head.

Images of the female duck from before came to her.

From the looks of it, this girl was his girlfriend and she was very controlling and had the final say in everything.

"_So she wears the pants in this relationship, huh?"_

She had a smug look on her face as she looked at the duck.

"Well, from what I've seen, you have a girlfriend who has you whipped and you'll do anything she says"

Sora and Goofy bursted out laughing. Donald glared at her with embarrassment.

"You're just making that up!"

"Oh really? Well, you believe me if I knew her name was Daisy and that she wears a purple dress and that she serves your queen?"

Donald just looked away and went back to steering the ship.

"Aw Phooey!"

Hikari grinned.

"That's right. Don't diss my powers like that or it'll just backfire on you"

She went back to her seat and waited for when they would arrive on their next world.

* * *

After that little incident, the rest of the trip was as boring as ever.

Hikari looked at her keyblade. She wondered why hers was pure white while Sora's was normal looking.

"_Maybe mine has a special power that Sora's doesn't?"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when the Gummi ship suddenly came to a stop.

"Are we at another world?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked outside to see a jungle like world.

"Hey, Donald. Maybe the King is here" Goofy said.

"In a backwater place like this? No way" Donald replied.

"Let's move on"

Sora grew angry.

"Hold on! Riku and Kairi might me down there!"

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah! And your King might be here. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Let's just look"

"Forget it. We're on an important mission""

"Just land!" Sora declared.

"No!"

"Please?" Hikari pleaded.

"No, we've got other worlds to search"

"You're just doing this as revenge for me picking at your memoires from before, aren't you?"

"We're going, and that's final!"

"Come on!" Sora said.

"Aw, Phooey!"

That did it for Sora. The boy grabbed the controller and tried to land the ship on the world.

The ship jerked a bit and made everyone grab onto something to prevent them from falling.

"Don't touch that!" Donald cried.

Sora ignored him and just sent the ship into the world.

Hikari held on tightly to the ship as Sora did a nose dive. The ship jerked to a stop caused everyone to fall out of the ship.

* * *

She screamed as she fell through the air. She had no idea how far she was falling from and she didn't know where she was going to land. She closed her eyes in fear and braced herself for the impact that she knew she wasn't going to like.

"_Please let me hit something soft" _she pleaded.

Luck seemed to be against her since she hit something hard.

She crashed through what appeared to be a giant hut.

She went through the ceiling and landed on the floor. She gritted her teeth as pain flared up through her entire body.

"Oh man, did that hurt"

She braced herself to get up, but she was suddenly back on the floor as Sora landed on her.

"Ow, my head" he complained.

"My back" Hikari whined.

Sora quickly got off of her and helped her up.

"Are you ok?"

Hikari held her side.

"I should be in a few minutes. Luckily I didn't break anything from that fall"

She looked around the hut that they landed in.

"Where are we?"

"I have no idea" Sora said.

"I don't even know where Donald and Goofy are"

"They must be around here somewhere" Hikari said.

She walked around a tiny bit to get a better view of her surroundings.

"Donald! Goofy!" she called out.

She heard movement from the floor above. She turned around, thinking it was one of their friends, but instead she was greeted to an angry leopard.

"Uh oh"

The feline growled at them and jumped down.

Sora backed up and drew out his Keyblade while Hikari did the same.

"Nice kitty" Hikari said.

The leopard growled at them and lunged forward.

Sora got in front of Hikari protectively.

"Don't worry, I got him" he said

But he spoke too soon since he got swatted away by the leopard.

He crashed into one of the walls and held his head in pain.

"Sora!" Hikari cried.

She glared at the feline and held her keyblade out in front of her.

"I'm going to turn you into an exotic coat"

Sora got up and stood next to her.

"Not alone, you're not"

They both fought the animal fearlessly.

Hikari thought she was doing a great job, but the cuts and scratches that covered her arms told her else wise. Sora had the upper hand and had managed to knock the leopard out.

He slowly went up to the creature to make sure it was down for the count.

Hikari could see it twitching slightly.

"Sora, wait!"

The leopard jumped up on its feet. Sora got ready to fight again as the leopard jumped at him.

Hikari ran at them to help Sora, but they got help from someone unexpected.

A man came out of nowhere and blocked the leopard's attacks with his spear. He shoved it away and pointed his spear at the animal.

The leopard growled at him and jumped out of a nearby window before the man could spear the feline.

* * *

Sora and Hikari looked at their rescuer strangely.

He was a full grown man who wore nothing but a loin cloth and had long dread lock hair. He was muscular built and stood awkwardly as if he wasn't used to standing on two feet.

The man looked at them when he sensed that they were safe.

"Sabor, danger" he said in broken English.

Hikari smiled nervously.

"Um…thank you" she said.

"Thank you" the man repeated. It was as if he had never heard the word before and he wanted to try it out.

Sora looked at him nervously.

"Um…what is this place?" he asked.

"This place, this place" the man said.

"Okaaay…Where did the others go?"

The man didn't say anything.

"I don't think he understands what you're saying, Sora" Hikari whispered.

Sora tried a different method.

"Look. We got separated from our friends. Have you seen them?" he said slowly.

The man just tilted his head.

"Friends" Hikari said slowly.

"Friends" the man repeated.

Sora got excited that he finally understood them.

"Right, our friends! There's two of them. The loud mouth is Dona—"

He stopped when he realized who he was talking about.

Hikari understood what he was going through.

They were here searching for Riku and Kairi while at the same time, they were wondering where Donald and Goofy were. It seemed that Sora was more concerned about them right now than about Riku and Kairi.

"_It's not bad to have more than one friend" _She thought.

Sora looked away sadly.

"You know what? Never mind" he said.

"I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi"

"Look for Riku, friends?" the man asked.

Hikari smiled.

"That's right"

Sora seemed to be looking at something for a moment. It was as if he saw someone.

"Kairi, friends?"

"Uh, right" Sora said.

"Friends here"

Hikari lit up. Did that mean Riku was here?

"Really?!" she cried.

"*&&x%" the man said.

"What?" Sora asked.

"*&&X%" the man repeated.

"Friends here"

Hikari rubbed her face.

"I'm not sure we understand, but can you show us?" she asked.

Sora nodded.

"Take us to Riku and Kairi"

The man pointed to himself.

"Tarzan" he said.

Hikari figured that was his name.

She did the same and pointed to herself.

"Hikari" she said slowly so he could understand.

"Tarzan go" Tarzan said.

Sora pointed to himself.

"And I'm Sora. Tarzan go, Sora go go!"

Hikari snickered at the way that Sora was communicating. She just found it funny.

Tarzan walked out of the hut and led them outside.

Hikari was amazed by the view. Everywhere she looked, she would see trees all over the place. It was a vast jungle that was filled with nature.

"_And I thought the island was full of wildlife. Man was I wrong"_

"So, how do we get down from here?" Sora asked.

Tarzan jumped from the ledge of the hut and went into the trees.

"I guess from there" Hikari said.

They both looked at each other for a moment before shrugging.

"Hey, it couldn't be worse than falling into a hut" Sora said.

"True" Hikari added.

She went over to the ledge and peered down. The fall looked pretty deep, but she didn't want to stay up here in case Sabor was still around.

"Here goes nothing" she said to herself.

She jumped off and fell into the trees.

She managed to land safely on the tree and saw Sora land next to her moments later. Tarzan was waiting for them so they wouldn't get lost. He led them to a hollowed out trunk and went down in it.

They followed them, not knowing that they had to surf down to the bottom.

Hikari was fumbling as she tried to keep her balance. She could be graceful at times, but today wasn't her day.

Sora just acted like he was on a skate board and kept his hands out for balance.

Tarzan was pretty much the same, but Hikari figured that he had done this before.

She dodged the low branches that were in the way and managed to jump out of the way without falling off the branch.

They slid off the branch and landed near some campsite.

Tarzan walked on all fours and headed for the tent.

"He acts like a monkey" Hikari said.

Sora nodded.

They slowly followed him into the tent. A woman was inside working on a camera.

"Jane" Tarzan said.

The woman turned around and smiled.

"Tarzan" she said.

She spotted Sora and Hikari.

"Oh, and who are you?"

"Uh, hi there. I'm-"

"Oh, you speak English" Jane said.

"So then, obviously, you're not related to Tarzan. Are you here to study the gorillas?"

"Highly doubtful" a man said.

A poacher came in carrying a gun.

Donald and Goofy came in after words.

"Sora! Hikari!" Goofy cried.

Hikari got excited and hugged Goofy tightly.

Sora grabbed Donald's hands.

"Goofy! Donald!"

Donald and Sora suddenly remembered their fight on the Gummi ship and they let go. They both 'humphed' and crossed their arms.

Hikari sighed as she let go of Goofy.

"Well, at least you're both alright" she said.

The poacher fixed his gun.

"A circus of clowns. Not much use for hunting Gorillas"

Jane got mad as he left.

"Mr. Clayton. We're studying them, not hunting them. This is research"

She looked back at the group.

"Well, the more the merrier. Do make yourselves at home"

Hikari and Goofy just looked at Sora and Donald.

"Well anyway" Sora said.

"I'm staying" he and Donald said in unison.

"Huh?" Hikari asked.

Goofy held up a Gummi block.

"Look what we found" he said.

"What is that?" Hikari asked.

"It's a Gummi block" Goofy said.

"It's the same stuff used to build our ship"

"So that means…"

"The King could be here" Donald said.

"So, we've got to work together to look for him…for now"

Sora got all huffy.

"Fine. I'll let you tag along… for now"

Hikari sighed.

"You guys are so stubborn. I think Goofy is the only one who is the easiest going in the group"

She just pushed past them and went over to Jane.

"So, what's up with Tarzan? He almost acts like a monkey and doesn't really talk"

"Apparently, Tarzan was raised in the jungle by the gorillas" Jane said.

"Communicating with him still isn't easy, but he's learning"

"So, he was speaking 'Gorilla' back there" Sora said.

He had just finished with his little glaring match with Donald.

Hikari nodded and told Jane their story.

"Ah, so you're looking for your friends?"

Hikari nodded.

"He said Riku and Kairi were here, and one word we couldn't understand"

Jane pulled out a camera.

"Why don't we try this? We'll show Tarzan some slides and see if any of them match that word"

"That sounds like a good idea" Hikari said.

Jane went to put the slides in, but found that they were missing.

"Oh, what happened to the slides?"

"Maybe they're somewhere around here" Sora said

"Let's look for them"

They went out of the tent and started searching for the slides.

* * *

Sora and Donald were searching for the slides on their own.

"Those two really know how to hold a grudge" Hikari said.

She decided to work with Goofy in retrieving the slides. She thought it was better to work as a team than working alone. Plus, the dog could reach places that she couldn't.

As they were searching, Hikari told Goofy about what had happened to them.

"And then when Sabor was about to attack us again, Tarzan showed up and saved us. After that, we just followed him and wound up here"

"Gawsh, Hikari. You must've had quite an adventure" Goofy said.

Hikari shrugged.

"I wouldn't call it an adventure. I just wished that we would have landed better and not crash landed into a hut. My back is still sore from it"

"Well, Sora did land the ship funny"

Hikari rubbed her head nervously.

"Sorry about that. Once Sora's mind is set, he won't back down"

Goofy grinned at her.

"That's ok. It just means that you guys are that determined to find your friends. And it's a good thing that we landed here; otherwise we wouldn't have known that the King was here"

Hikari grinned at him.

"You're right. I guess everything worked out after all"

They found the last of the slides and brought them back to Jane.

"Hopefully this works" Sora said.

* * *

Jane placed the slides into the camera.

They flipped through the slides that they found. They all looked the same, but one picture caught Hikari's attention.

It was a picture of a castle of some type. Her eyes went wide as she looked at it closer. The structure and details looked so familiar to her. It was as if she had seen this place before.

"Is something wrong, Hikari?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I-I'm fine" she said.

She looked at the picture once more.

"_That castle…it looks so familiar. It's almost as if I've been there before. Could that place have anything to do with my home world?"_

Once the slides were done, everyone looked at Tarzan.

"Well, Tarzan?" Jane asked

The man ape just looked at the blank screen in thought.

"Where are my friends, Riku and Kairi?" Sora asked.

Tarzan looked at him for a moment. He shook his head as if he didn't know.

Sora grew annoyed.

"Hey, I thought-"

"That leaves just one place" Mr. Clayton said as he entered the tent.

"We've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours" he looked at the group.

"I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them"

"Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide-"Jane said.

Clayton interrupter her by walking up to Tarzan.

"Then take us there" he said to him.

"Take us to the gorillas. Go-ril-las"

Hikari glared at Clayton.

"_You don't have to talk to him like he's an idiot" _she thought.

Tarzan looked at Sora and Hikari for a moment. He seemed to be thinking over whether or not he should help them find their friends.

Hikari gave him a pleading look. She really wanted to find Riku.

"Please?" She asked softly.

Tarzan looked at them for a second, then nodded.

"Tarzan…are you sure?" Jane asked.

"Tarzan go see Kerchack" Tarzan said.

"Kerchack?"

"He must be the leader" Clayton said.

"Perfect. I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place"

No one saw the evil smile on the poacher's face as he said that.

* * *

They left the campsite with Tarzan leading the way. He took them to some sort of Lagoon where they had to jump on a few hippos to get to the next piece of land. It was a pain in the neck since the hippos had the tendency to go underwater and they would have to swim back to shore and wait for them to resurface. Hikari was soaked when they managed to get to the other side.

"I should have worn a bathing suit" She said to herself as she wrung her hair out.

She made sure her ribbon was tied in place before she climbed up the vine that was in front of her. She struggled a little since she didn't have a lot of upper body strength. She knew she was going to get blisters when this was over.

"_But that doesn't matter. I'll see Riku soon" _

She managed to get to the top and saw a group of gorillas sitting in a tree. One of them looked really scary to her, so she backed away.

"_That must be Kerchack" _she thought.

"_Scary!"_

Tarzan stood before Kerchack and the other gorillas.

He started talking to them in gorilla (a/n: that scene where he was talking in English with the gorillas was him actually talking in gorilla. They just put it in English to show what they were talking about)

Since she couldn't understand what they were saying, she took this as the opportunity to mull over that picture that she saw at the tent.

"_I know I've seen that castle before. But the question is when did I see it? Was it before I went to the islands? Could that place have anything to do with my home world? Why can't I remember anything!?"_

A memory suddenly flashed though her head.

* * *

_Taiyouko was walking with her two children. Leon was holding onto her hand while Hikari held her other._

_The little girl had a skip in her step as they walked down the road. She always loved it when she could spend time with her mom and older brother. _

_Taiyouko smiled at her children as they walked down a road and headed towards a more open area._

"_Where are you taking us, Mom?" Leon asked._

_Taiyouko just smiled at her son. _

"_I'm going to show one of our world's most historical monuments." She said._

_She led them to a bridge that looked out into the valley. Vast rivers and lakes could be seen from miles away. _

_Hikari marveled at how clear the water was and saw her reflection sparkle. Leon was amazed by the view too. He even tried to stick his hand into the water._

"_It this where you wanted to take us, mommy?" Hikari asked._

_Taiyouko shook her head._

"_No. Look out into the horizon"_

_She pointed out into the distance to reveal a giant castle. _

"_See that castle? It's been here for as long I can remember"_

_Hikari looked at the building with amazement._

"_Does anyone live there?" She asked._

"_No. It's been barren for quite a while now" Taiyouko said._

"_This castle is just a monument now to show how long this world has been here"_

"_How long do you think it's been here?" Leon asked._

"_I don't know, probably for a long time"_

_Taiyouko turned to her children._

"_Now I want you both to do me a favor ok? Promise me that you will never go into that castle"_

"_How come?"_

"_Because it's very dangerous and there are rumors that a few monsters live within the castle"_

"_Monsters!?" Hikari cried._

_Taiyouko gently smiled at her and ran her hand through her hair._

"_Don't worry, they don't come out. They can't stand the light and prefer dark places. That's why no matter what, the light will always protect you"_

_Hikari sighed with relief._

"_Now let's go home. It's getting late"_

_Leon picked up Hikari so she could she could fall asleep as they went home._

_As they left, Hikari could have sworn that she saw black blobs crawling around the castle grounds._

* * *

"_So that castle was from my world" _Hikari thought.

"_And I guess those monsters that mom talked about were the heartless"_

She looked at Sora and the group.

"Well?"

Sora shook his head.

"They wouldn't tell Tarzan anything" he said.

"But that Kerchack fellow seemed to be looking at something" Goofy said.

"I think it was the tree house" Sora said.

"Then let's head for the tree house then. Maybe we can find something there" Hikari said.

"The only problem is that we don't know how to get there" Donald said.

That was a problem. They didn't know how to get to the tree house. They did crash land into it when they arrived here.

A loose vine swung in front of Hikari.

"Huh?"

She looked at the vine for a moment. She saw a few more vines up ahead as if it were a trail.

"Hey, why don't we travel like this?" she said.

She grabbed the vine and swung off the branch. She put all of her weight into the swing to take her to the next vine. It was like she was swinging from the monkey bars as she went from vine to vine.

"_This is easier than it looks"_

She swung to the ledge and landed on her feet. She spotted Sora and the others from where she left them. She waved at them.

"Come on you guys! It's easy!"

They slowly made their way to where she was before they continued onward.

They saw an opening in one of the trees that almost looked like a cave.

Tarzan led the way and took them to what looked like the inside of a tree. Moss covered the entire place and made the ground a little bouncy as they stepped on it.

They went through another hole and found themselves at the entrance of the tree house.

"I guess that wasn't so bad" Sora said.

They walked up the path way to the hut, hoping that they would see their friends at last.

* * *

When they got up to the hut, they saw Clayton standing near the entrance to the house. He has his gun out and pointed it to something that was inside.

"What's Clayton pointing at?" Sora asked.

"Maybe it's the leopard from before" Hikari suggested.

Donald went up to him so see what he was going to shoot. When he saw a gorilla inside, he let out a loud squawk. Clayton jumped in surprised and fired off his gun. Luckily, it didn't hit the gorilla, but it startled the poor thing.

The gorilla ran away in fear and hid behind Kerchack, who was in the tree house.

Hikari glared at Clayton and placed her hands on her hips.

"What's the big idea?" She snapped.

Tarzan went up to Kerchack.

"Wait, Kerchack. Please" he pleaded.

The head ape wouldn't have any of it and just walked away.

Everyone looked at Tarzan sadly as he held his head in shame. He nearly put his family in danger because of Clayton.

Everyone glared at Clayton.

The poacher waved his hands in front of him.

"You don't understand" he said.

"I was only trying to…Ah, a snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life"

No one believed him for an instant. They all knew that he was trying to hunt the poor thing.

"Let's just head back to camp" Sora said.

Everyone slowly left the hut and went back to the camp with a slight weight on their shoulders.

Hikari looked at Tarzan. He had his head down as they walked. She felt really bad for him. He was at fault for what happened before, even if it wasn't his doing.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad smile.

"I'm really sorry" she said.

Tarzan looked at her.

"Sorry" he repeated.

Hikari figured that he didn't know what the word meant.

"Sorry is something you say when something bad has happens to someone. You say it as a way to show that you didn't wish for the bad thing to happen. It lets you know that they care"

"Care" Tarzan repeated.

Hikari nodded.

"That's right. I'm showing you that I care"

Tarzan looked at her for a moment before walking with the others.

Hikari sighed as she rubbed her head.

"I don't think he understood me"

* * *

When they arrived back at the campsite, they told Jane what had happened.

She was beyond furious with Clayton.

"How could you do such a thing!"

"Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla"

Jane got into his face.

"You are not to go near the gorillas again!"

"All because of one mishap? Come now"

He saw all of the dirty looks that everyone was giving him.

He slowly backed out of the tent.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"Well, now what do we do?" she asked.

"The gorillas were our only chance to find Riku and Kairi, but that Clayton creep scared them off"

Sora just shrugged.

The sound of a gun going off caught everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Jane asked.

Sora and Hikari drew out their keyblades.

"We'll go find out" Sora said.

* * *

They all ran out of the tent to see what the commotion was about.

Hikari spotted a group of heartless surrounding a gorilla.

"Heartless!"

They attacked to swarm of heartless before they could do anything to the poor gorilla. Hikari checked on the primate to see if it got injured. When she saw that it was fine, they let it run free.

"Do you think the other gorillas are in trouble?" Goofy asked.

"There's only one way to find out" Sora said.

They ran throughout the jungle and attacked any heartless that they encountered. They managed to save some of the gorillas that were captured and held hostage in the process.

"I think that's the last of them" Donald said.

"Then let's head back to the camp" Sora said.

They headed back to camp, hoping that Jane was alright.

* * *

It took them a while to get back to the campsite. They had to slide down the trees again and Goofy kept getting hit by the branches.

When they got there, everything seemed to be normal. There weren't any heartless around, so that was a good sign.

That is until they heard a gunshot.

"Where did that come from?" Hikari asked.

"I think that way" Sora said.

They went into the bamboo grove to investigate. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything looked fine and dandy. That is until they spotted Clayton's pipe on the ground.

Sora went to go pick it up, but something zipped over his head and landed in front of him.

Sabor roared at them as he crouched down. Hikari and Sora drew out their keyblades.

"I was wondering where he went" Hikari said.

Her arms still hurt from being the leopard's scratching post.

She blocked Sabor's attack when he went to swipe his claw at her.

"Not this time, fur ball"

She slammed her keyblade into his head and smacked him away as if he were a baseball.

Sabor growled at her and lunged again.

Goofy blocked the attacks while Donald cast spells on the beast.

Sora was attacking with his keyblade and managed to get a few good hits on the leopard.

Tarzan saw an opening and stabbed Sabor with his spear.

The leopard let out weak roar when the spear was pulled out of him.

He struggled to stand on his four legs, but his vision was going blurry. The feline swayed a bit before collapsing to the ground. The color in his eyes dulled as his soul left his body.

"Well, that takes care of our cat problem" Hikari said.

They went back to the tent to check up on Jane but found her missing.

"Hey, where's Jane?" Sora asked.

Tarzan seemed to look uneasy.

"Is something wrong, Tarzan?" Hikari asked.

"Something coming. Jane, danger" he said.

"Jane near…near tree house"

"Sounds like trouble. Let's go" Donald said.

They ran out of the tent and headed for the lagoon that lead to the tree house.

They ran up the vines once they got passed the Hippos and went up to the trees.

* * *

As they reached the top of the trees, they heard a voice.

"Tarzan!"

"Hey, that's Jane!" Hikari said.

They saw her and the gorilla that Donald saved before trapped in some sort of cage that was made out if vines.

Tarzan went to free them, but he found that he couldn't cut through the vines with his spear.

"Why won't the vines cut?" Goofy asked.

Just then, several heartless appeared.

Hikari cast a few fire spells at the creatures and burnt them to a crisp. But whenever a heartless fell, another would appear in its place.

"What the?"

She kept attacking them, but more would just show up.

She used blizzard on some while she attacked the others.

Nothing seemed to be working, that is until something caught her eye.

There, in the trees was a giant black fruit.

Heartless would come out of it when Sora or the others destroyed any.

"_So that's where they're coming from!"_

"Hey, Sora! Hit that piece of fruit on the tree!"

Sora saw what she was pointing at and understood what was going on.

He hit it with his keyblade a few times, but whenever he did, heartless would appear.

Hikari attacked them when they tried to get Sora.

"I'll take care of them. Just destroy that thing before more heartless appear"

Sora kept attacking the fruit while Hikari blocked the heartless away.

This went on for a few moments until Sora finally destroyed the fruit. As soon as he did, all of the heartless disappeared.

"Way to go, Sora!" Goofy cheered.

Tarzan went to where Jane was and managed to destroy the vines that were caging Jane.

She held the gorilla that was with her protectively.

Hikari and the others ran up to her to see if she was alright.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"Clayton came to the tent, and…that's the last thing I remember" she said.

"Clayton?!" everyone cried.

"Gorilla's trapped" Tarzan said.

Hikari panicked.

"You mean that Clayton kidnapped all of the gorillas?!"

"We have to help the gorillas!" Donald said.

"But where could Clayton be?" Sora asked.

Hikari thought for a moment.

"Well…the last time we saw him; he was near the camping grounds. And we found his pipe near that Bamboo grove. Maybe he's near there?"

"Then let's go! We have some Gorillas to save!"

They ran back ran back to the campsite.

Hikari whimpered as they ran.

"_This is too much running for me!" _she thought.

She wasn't the fasted runner in their group. She always came in last whenever she had a race with Sora and Riku. The only times that she ever won was when Riku purposely run slow so she could appear faster.

Just thinking about him made her run faster.

"_I can't complain! I've come too far to quit now! I'll see Riku as soon as this mess is over!"_

She pushed her body to the limit as she ran with her friends through the jungle.

* * *

Once they reached the bamboo grove, Hikari felt like she was going to puke. She hunched over as she regained her breath.

"_I've never ran so hard in my life!"_

"Wow, Hikari. You're really out of shape" Donald said.

She sent him a tired glare.

"Quiet you!"

Sora rubbed his head as he watched his friend wheezing.

"You never were the fastest in our group" he admitted.

"Even Kairi was faster than you"

Hikari growled and drew her keyblade.

"Do you want to get hit?" She rasped.

Sora held his hands up defensively.

"Let's not get angry" he said.

"We have to stop Clayton before he harms the gorillas"

She nodded as she put her keyblade away. Once she finally regained her breath, they went into the bamboo grove.

* * *

Just as they ran into the grove, they saw Clayton point his gun at Kerchack.

He had his finger around the trigger and was about to pull it.

"No!" Sora cried.

Clayton stopped what he was doing and looked at the group. This gave Kerchack the chance to escape with the other gorillas.

Clayton just looked at the group strangely as if he was seeing right through them.

"Clayton?" Sora asked uneasily.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan said.

"*&&X%! Not Clayton!"

Hikari grew confused.

What did he meant it wasn't Clayton? He was standing right in front of them, wasn't he?

"_And why was he speaking gorilla just now?"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Clayton opened fire on them.

She jumped out of the way in time, but that didn't stop the poacher.

Clayton kept firing at them and made everyone keep their distance from him.

Hikari started to get frustrated with this.

"_I'm not getting hits on this guy!"_

Since she couldn't physically hit him, she decided to hit him with magic.

She fired off random spells tired to do as much damage as she could. It was a lot easier since Donald pitched in as well and started zapping the vile man.

Just as things were getting good, Clayton stopped what he was doing and stood near rock wall of the grove.

Nobody knew what he was up to, but suddenly, the wall exploded and crumbled to pieces. When the dust cleared up, they saw a vast oasis with a running waterfall. Hikari was amazed by the view; she had never knew such a place could exist in this jungle.

Tarzan suddenly grew angry and charged at Clayton.

He got knocked back by some invisible force and was thrown a few feet away.

Clayton's body suddenly floated into the air and looked like he was riding something.

"What the?" Hikari said.

She was suddenly thrown back by some invisible force like Tarzan was and smashed into one of the walls.

She winched in pain, but ignored it. She had other things to worry about than her body aching.

She charged at Clayton again, but she kept getting thrown back. She wasn't the only one who was having a hard time. Sora and the others were getting whipped around as well. They would either get thrown around by some unknown force or either dodge Clayton's bullets as he fired at them.

Hikari aimed her keyblade at Clayton and fired of fire spell. The ball of fire missed, but it hit whatever it was that Clayton was riding on. It let out a loud screech and stomped around.

That gave Hikari an idea.

"Donald! Cast your magic on the thing that Clayton is riding on!"

The magician did as he was told and sent a barrage of spells at the invisible creature. Hikari pitched in and sent her own combos of spells.

When they both hit it with a double fire spell, the creature finally released its invisible form and revealed to be a giant heartless chameleon.

"_Well that explains why we couldn't see it before. It was a stupid chameleon"_

The heartless let out a high pitched screech and shot energy rays out of its eyes.

Everyone got out of the way before the beams could hit them.

Hikari focused her attacks on the giant lizard. She thought that if she could defeat this heartless, then Clayton would be left venerable. That idea was a lot harder than she thought it would be since the damn poacher kept shooting. Every time she went to cast a spell or land a hit, he would fire off that riffle of his. It was really getting on her nerves.

When she managed to get into his blind spot, she pointed her keyblade at the heartless. She was about to fire off a blizzard spell, when she saw Clayton point his gun at Tarzan. The man ape was too busy trying to take down the heartless, that he didn't even know that his life was in danger.

She knew she had to save him, but how?

A loose vine that was hanging from the wall caught her attention. She ran up to it, while making sure she wasn't noticed and swung on.

She did a little victory cry and she slammed her boots into Clayton's back. The poacher and thrown off the heartless' back and fired off his gun in the wrong direction.

Hikari landed on her feet and gave him a smug look.

"Not so tough without your little pet, are you?"

She ran back into the fray and attacked the heartless before Clayton could get back on it. Just as she was about make a hit, Clayton's gun fired off. Pain shot up her arm as the bullet grazed it. She held her arm as blood seeped through her fingers. She glanced back at Clayton and saw that he loaded his gun up and had it pointed at her. She glared at him and dodged his shots as he fired at her.

The gunshots caught Sora's attention and he saw his friend running away from Clayton's bullets while holding her arm. He suddenly grew mad and went after Clayton. He slammed his Keyblade down and knocked the shotgun out of his grip.

Hikari took this as the opportunity to heal herself and she drank a potion. When she was the bullet wound close up, she went back into the fray and attacked the heartless. Since Clayton wasn't controlling it anymore, it was easier to attack it and land hits on it.

Hikari and Donald cast a barrage of spells on it while Sora, Tarzan and Goofy landed physical hits on it.

In a matter of minutes, the heartless was down for the count.

They all turned their attention to Clayton and closed in on him. The poacher panicked and pointed his gun at them. As he backed away, he didn't realize that he was standing in front of the heartless. Tarzan had his spear out and closed in on Clayton as he loaded his gun. Just as he was about to fire off, he heard the heartless make a noise and turned around.

The heartless let out a weak screech and fell over.

Hikari saw that they were close enough to get crushed by the heartless.

"Tarzan! Look out!"

She ran at them and shoved the man ape out of the way. He was fine, but now she in danger of getting crushed. She closed her eyes and brought her hands up to her head.

Just as the heartless fell over, a beam of light came out of Hikari's charm and surrounded her like a shield. As the heartless crashed to the ground, Hikari was protected by the shield, while Clayton was crushed.

Hikari was amazed by what had just happened.

What did her charm just do? She had never seen it react like that before.

Sora went up to her slowly.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

She nodded.

"What was that just now?"

Hikari picked up her pendant and looked at it.

"I have no idea" she admitted.

Sora shrugged.

"Well, at least you're ok"

She nodded.

They watched as the heartless vanished and let it's captive heart float freely into the sky.

Hikari turned to Tarzan.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He looked at her.

"Tarzan. Saved"

She smiled as she nodded.

"That'd right. I told you before; I'm showing you that I care"

Tarzan pointed to her.

"Hikari care"

He pointed to himself.

"Tarzan care"

She smiled at him.

"Thank you"

* * *

After the battle was over, all of the gorilla's gathered around them. They were intrigued by these strangers that had rescued them.

Kerchack stood before them. He a few feet taller than the others while standing on all fours.

Hikari was a little nervous to be standing in front of a large monkey.

She waved at the head gorilla when he looked at her. The look he was giving her made her feel uneasy.

"Uh…hi"

He suddenly picked her up and threw up to the cliff and lead to the oasis. She landed on her back as she hit the ground. Sora was thrown after words, followed by Donald and Goofy.

Tarzan climbed up the cliff and looked back at Kerchack.

The head ape didn't say anything as he looked at them.

It was as if he was silently telling them that they were allowed to head to their nesting grounds.

He walked away and left them while the gorillas followed their leader.

Tarzan looked at the Oasis.

"Tarzan, home"

He lead the others to the waterfall and went through the curtain of water. They all followed him and saw a wall filled with ledges. They all went up the ledges and climbed the slippery rocks. As they reached the top, they saw an opening and went inside.

* * *

When they walked through the opening, they were inside some sort of room that was filled with plant life. The walls were covered with vines and leaves and had branches growing from the ground.

In the center of the room was a tree trunk that was glowing in the center.

They walked closer to it to see it was group of butterflies' huddles together.

Jane and the Terk came into the room.

"_Where the heck did they come from?" _Hikari thought.

"*&&X%" Tarzan said.

"_There he goes with that word again"_

Sora looked around.

"This is your home? But that means…"

Tarzan silenced him.

Everyone went quiet for a moment.

The sound of waterfalls could be heard even from in here.

"Are those the waterfalls?" Hikari asked.

"*&&X%" Tarzan repeated.

"Friends there. See friends"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Oh, now I get it" Jane said.

"*&&X% means heart. Friends in our hearts"

"Heart…" Tarzan said.

"Oh, so that's what it meant" Sora said sadly.

Hikari felt sad as well.

"_So Riku wasn't here after all_" She thought.

She searched this entire jungle for him and he wasn't even here. What a bummer.

"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart" Tarzan suddenly said.

She looked at him. What was he trying to get at?

"No heart, no see friends" he continued.

"No heart, no friends"

Now it made sense. Her friends were connected to her heart. If she believed and though about her friends, then she would see them again.

Sora and Donald looked at each other. They hadn't spoken to each other the whole time they were here on this world. It seemed that they finally realized that they were wrong to be mean to each other.

"Sorry about what I said" Sora said.

"I'm sorry too" Donald replied.

Hikari smiled.

"Awww, you two made up"

Goofy laughed and placed hands arms around their shoulders.

"Yeah, all for one, huh?"

The butterflies started to glow brightly.

Sora and Hikari stepped towards the tree trunk. As they did, the butterflies fluttered away to reveal a keyhole in the trunk.

"Hey, this world has a keyhole too" Hikari said.

Their keyblades appeared in their hands and they pointed them at the keyhole. Beams of light shoot out of the tips and hit the keyhole. When they heard a click, the keyhole disappeared and a Gummi piece fell out.

"Hey, a Gummi" Donald said.

"But it's not the kings" Goofy said sadly.

They both hung their heads when they realized that the king was never on this world.

Donald felt someone nudge him and saw Terk leaning against him. She looked at him and batted her eyes.

"I think someone has a new admirer" Jane said.

Hikari snickered.

Donald panicked and waved his hands around.

"No, no, no! Daisy would kill me!"

Everyone started laughing.

Hikari held her side as she pointed at Donald.

"I told you, you were whipped!"

* * *

Maleficent and her followers watched as Sora and Hikari sealed the keyhole.

"What drew the heartless to that world?" Jafar asked.

"The hunter lured them there" The sorceress said.

"It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was too tasty for his own good"

Oogie Boogie laughed.

"Yeah, he got chomped instead!"

Jafar emerged from the shadows.

"A weak hearted fool like him stood no chance against the heartless. But the boy and girl are a problem. They found another keyhole"

Maleficent grinned wickedly.

"Fear not. It will take them ages to find the rest. Besides, they remain blissfully unaware of our other plans."

"Yes, the princess'" Ursula said.

Maleficent nodded.

"They are falling into our hands, one by one"

"But what about the girl? We need her if we are to fulfill our plans" Jafar said.

"All in good time. I want just to see what her true powers are capable of. Besides… I finally found out where Taiyouko has been hiding this whole time"

"Taiyouko? You mean that blasted witch?"

Maleficent grinned wickedly.

"Yes"

She stroked her pet crow as she looked at her prey.

"That's right, Hikari. Just keep walking into my trap. You'll be mine before you know it"

* * *

As they went into the gummi ship, Hikari thought over what Tarzan had said.

She wondered why he would say something like that. She understood that it meant that her friends were in her heart, but she didn't understand why they were in her heart.

She suddenly remembered something her mother once told her when she was little.

* * *

_Hikari sat her mother's lap while they were in the library. It was her mother's favorite place on their world._

_Taiyouko hummed as she ran her hand through her daughter's hair. _

_Hikari looked puzzled as she thought over something. Her brother has said something to her earlier and it made her confused._

"_Mommy, what does it meant to have friends in your heart?"_

_Taiyouko stopped what she was doing and looked at her._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Well, Ni-san said that his friends and I will always be in his heart. Does that mean that we'll physically stay in his heart?"_

_Taiyouko laughed._

"_No silly, he just meant that you have a special place in his heart"_

"_I don't get it"_

_Taiyouko sighed softly._

"_Well, when you have someone special in your life, you create a bond that can never be broken. Your hearts are connected by this bond and you will stay a apart of each other's live. No matter how far away you are, you'll always be close to your friends through your heart"_

"_Oh" Hikari said._

_She looked up at her mother's beautiful face._

"_Do you have anyone that you're connect to, mommy?"_

_Taiyouko smiled._

"_Of course I do. I'm connected to you, your brother, my father, and the one that I love"_

_Hikari tilted her head._

"_Who's the one that you love?"_

_Taiyouko pressed her fingers to her lips._

"_It's a secret"_

* * *

"What's a secret?" Hikari said to herself.

She understood what her mother meant when she said that she would be connected to her friends, but who was the person that her mother was talking about?

She really didn't remember her mother talking about a lover. She didn't even remember about her father for that matter.

She really wished that she could remember from her past so she wouldn't have these headaches trying to remember everything. She had enough problems of her own right now to last her a lifetime, like finding Riku.

She was a little depressed that she didn't find him in the jungle, but she couldn't be upset about it. There were still many worlds to uncover.

The sound of Donald and Sora arguing caught her attention.

"Come on, I want to drive!" Sora whined.

"No! You made us take a nose dive the last time you got your hands on the wheel. Just stay in your seat and shut up!"

Goofy just watched as they kept bickering at each other.

Hikari sighed.

"Here we go again. At least things are back to normal though"

She got up from her seat and went to break up the fight before they crashed into their next world again.

* * *

**A/N: Holy Cow! This has got to be the longest chapter that I have written! Hopefully, this is tied more to the game than the last chapter. Please send me your reviews and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne **


	10. Olymous Coliseum

Chapter 10: Olympus Coliseum

**A/N: Hey everyone! We're back with another chapter and another world! I'm sure by the title you know which Final Fantasy character is going to show up. I wonder what adventures are awaiting for Hikari? You'll just have to read to find out.**

**Just for the heads up, this chapter might suck since we really don't do a lot on this world the first time. So in case you were looking for a lot of action, I'm afraid I don't have much to offer. **

**Sorry**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Hikari.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy! **

After Hikari broke up Sora and Donald's latest fight, they all arrived to their next world.

She silently prayed that she would finally find Riku. The last two worlds left her empty handed, but she was certain that she would find something on this world.

"_And you know what they say; third time is always the charm!"_

She stretched out her cramped up limbs and looked at Donald.

"So where are we now?"

"Olympus Coliseum"

She shrugged at that and followed Sora as he stepped out of the Gummi ship.

This world was very different from the last two worlds that they were on.

While Wonderland and Deep Jungle had plant life on their worlds, this one was the complete opposite.

Everywhere Hikari looked; there was sand and dirt covering every inch of the ground.

They walked through a set of double to enter some type of arena. There were great, massive pillars that made up the building while two giant statues of old looking warriors stood on each end, crossing swords with one another.

There were plagues hanging on the walls with the names of competitors from previous matches.

"This place is pretty impressive" Hikari said.

"But it looks like there isn't much to this world"

"I wonder if this king is here?" Goofy asked.

"There's only one was to find out" Sora said.

He went ahead and walked into the stadium with the others following.

"Why does he get the final say in everything?" Donald asked.

"That's how Sora's always been. He doesn't take no for an answer" Hikari said.

"_Then again, neither does Riku" _She thought.

Just thinking about him made her even more anxious to see him. She was starting to get the feeling that he wasn't on this world and that he may have never stepped foot on it.

"_Don't think so lowly. You're sure to find someone that you know on this world" _That voice said.

It still creped her out that she could hear this voice in her head. She knew that she heard that voice from somewhere, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

She just shrugged it off and went inside to see what this world had in store for her.

The interior portion of the stadium was a lot smaller than it looked from the outside. There really wasn't a lot of room to walk around and there was this giant pedestal pressed up against one of the walls.

"_This isn't a good place for a person who suffers claustrophobia" _she thought.

She saw out of the corner of her eye a little person standing on a small pedestal and was fixing up a plaque. As she looked at closer at the man, she saw that he had horns and the whole bottom half of his body was that of a goat.

"_Ok, the outside worlds are officially weird. We have a creepy talking cat, a man who acts and thinks like a gorilla and know we have a goat man. Wait until Ni-san hears about this"_

Sora went up to the goat man to see if he could ask him some questions.

"Um…"

The goat man didn't even look at him when he spoke.

"Good timing. Give me a hand. Will ya?"

He pointed to the large pedestal that was next to one of the walls.

"Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games"

Sora didn't know what to say.

He just shrugged went over to the pedestal.

"You're going to do what he said?" Donald asked.

"Sure. If I do this, maybe he can help us"

He went up to the slab of rock and tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

"It weighs a ton" he said.

"Come on, Sora. Put your back into it" Hikari said.

He tried to move it again, but nothing happened.

When he realized he wouldn't be able to move it, he went back to the goat man.

"It's way too heavy!"

"What? Too heavy?"

He turned around to face them.

"Since when have you been such a little-"

He stopped when he saw the group.

"Oh. Wrong Guy. What're you doing here?"

He jumped off the pedestal that he was on and walked up to them.

"This here is the world famous coliseum-heroes only. And I got my hands full preparing for the games, so run along, pip-squeaks"

Sora and Hikari glared at him.

The goat man sighed.

"Look, it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the coliseum"

Donald crossed his arms.

"You've got heroes standing right in front of you"

Goofy patted Sora and Hikari on the backs.

"Yep. These two are real heroes chosen by the keyblades"

"And we're real heroes too" Donald added.

The goat man laughed.

"Heroes? Those runts?"

Hikari got mad and stomped her foot.

"What's so funny?! We've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora said

"You think a girl can't fight?!" Hikari yelled.

She always hated it when people judged her because she was a girl.

She remembered when she wanted to practice sword fighting with Riku and Sora, they singled her out.

_Flashback: 8 years ago_

_Hikari stomped her foot in the sand as she glared at Riku and Sora._

_She had just asked them if she could sword practice with them and they turned her down._

"_Come on, Hikari. This will be too dangerous for you" Riku said._

"_Yeah, you should just play dolls with Kairi" Sora added_

"_I don't want to play dolls! I want use a sword!"_

_She had been asking them all day and they kept turning her down. She wanted to fight like they did. She thought it was cool whenever they fought with their wooden swords on the beach. She would prefer playing with a sword than with dolls._

_Riku just sighed as he ran his hand through his hair._

"_You'll get hurt fighting with us" he said as he tried to change her mind._

_He didn't want her to get hurt since had such a frail figure. He didn't think she could handle sword fighting._

_But then Sora ran his big mouth off and ruined everything._

"_Yeah, besides, girls can't fight"_

_Hikari got really angry at that._

"_What do you mean girls can't fight?! I can fight! You just won't give me a chance, I'll show you that I'm capable of using a sword!"_

_Sora just placed his hands behind his head._

"_Give it up, Hikari. There's no way, we'll practice with you"_

_Angry tears filled up her eyes as she shoved him._

"_You're so mean!"_

_She ran off crying to the Paopu tree._

_Riku ran after as she cried._

"_Hikari wait!"_

_End Flashback_

Hikari grounded her teeth as she remembered that day.

She sent Sora a nasty glare as she remembered that it was him that told her that girls can't fight.

After that day, she showed them and became a skilled fighter.

She wasn't nearly as good as Riku, but she was able to bear Sora at a few matches when they were on the islands.

"_I plan my attacks better than he does and I study my opponent better. That's why I've always won when I was against him"_

The goat man wiped the tears from his eyes as he stopped laughing.

"Listen, if you can't move this …"

He pointed the pedestal next to him and started pushing it, but wasn't getting anywhere with it.

"…you can't call yourselves…"

They all watched as he failed to move the pedestal.

"… Heroes"

He grunted as he pressed his back up to it and tried to move backwards.

Hikari snickered as she watched him.

"What's the matter? Too heavy for you?" She cooed.

The goat man just flopped down and panted heavily.

"Ok, so it takes more than brawn . Well, let's see what you can do"

He heaved himself up.

"I'll let you take a few trials to see if you have what it takes to be a hero" he said.

"By the way, the names Phil"

"I'm Sora"

"Hikari"

"Donald Duck"

"The names Goofy"

"Alright then. This trial is tough. You got what it takes?"

Sora punched his fist into his hand.

"You got it"

Hikari pumped he fist.

"Let me show you how a girl fights"

"Alright then, let's see what you two can do" Phil said.

He ushered them into the fighting arena where there were barrels everywhere.

"The rules are simple: Bust all of the barrels within the time limit. I'll do you one at a time and we'll see who has the better score"

Hikari stepped forward.

"Ladies first" she said.

She drew out her keyblade and stepped within the arena.

"You've got 30 seconds" Phil said.

"Ready? Go!"

Hikari ran up to the nearest barrels and hacked right through it. There were 20 in all and she only got two of them. She had 25 seconds left, but she wanted to get a good score, so she had to break them into huge groups.

She saw a lone barrel that was a little ways off from a group of 5 barrels. She got an idea and she ran up to the barrel and swung it towards the group. They all broke on impact and that left her with just 12. She continued with the same routine and managed to get the last of the barrels with only 10 seconds to spare.

"Not bad!" Phil said.

"For a beginner that is"

Hikari smirked over her work.

She walked off and let Sora have his turn.

He had picked up her method on how to break the barrels faster.

He managed to break them all quickly with only 8 seconds left to spare.

"No bad for a bunch of rookies" Phil said.

He set up the second stage to the test and added 25 barrels with some of them up on higher ledges.

"The rules are the same, just get them within the time limit, only you have a minute this time"

Hikari went back up and had her keyblade out. She decided to go for the ones that were hard to reach and used magic on them. She casted fire on them and watched as they burnt up. When the tough ones were gone, she went for the easier ones and smashed them in groups. She got them all with 12 seconds remaining.

"Hey, you're better than I thought. I guess girls can fight after all"

Hikari wore a proud smirk as she let Sora have his turn. He managed to beat it with 14 seconds remaining.

"Way to go, Sora!"

He gave her a mock bow as they left the arena and went back inside.

"You know, you both ain't bad" Phil said once they got in.

Sora grinned.

"Looks like we're headed for the games"

"Afraid not" Phil said.

Sora looked put out.

"Why not?!"

"Two words: you guys ain't heroes!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Does he know how to count?" she whispered to Goofy.

"I don't think so, those were four words"

"Come on!" Sora whined.

Phil looked at them.

"You want to be a real hero? Then master this spell"

He granted them the ability to use thunder magic.

"_Sweet, another spell for me to use" _Hikari thought.

Sora didn't care for that.

"Come on, let us into the games!"

"Sorry, can't let ya into the games just yet, but I can train ya for 'em" Phil said.

"We're ready for the games!" Sora insisted.

"You don't get it do you? No pass, no entry. Simple as that"

Hikari figured as much. People couldn't get in without some type of pass.

"_And since we're not from this world, there's no way we would be able to get a hold of one of these tickets"_

She patted Sora on the arm.

"Come on, Sora. Let's go. It's obvious that Riku and Kairi aren't on this world, so what's the point of staying here?"

Sora just pouted, but followed Hikari as she walked away.

Donald and Goofy followed her as she stepped out of the stadium.

As they walked out, they failed to notice someone standing by the stadium.

"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"

They all turned around to see Hades.

"Who are you?" Donald asked.

"And why is your hair on fire?" Hikari added.

The god of the Underworld just waved them off as he approached them.

"Whoa, hold it there, you guys. Let me guess, you want to enter the games, right?"

He went up to Sora.

"Well then, get a load of this"

A pass suddenly appeared into his hand.

"A pass?" Sora asked.

Hades nodded.

"It's all yours. Good luck, kid. I'm pulling through for you, little shorty"

He left them after he said that.

Hikari eyed the pass strangely. She really didn't trust that guy.

"I don't know if we should use that pass, Sora. It could be a trap or something"

Sora just waved her off.

"What could a pass do to us? Now come on, let's go compete into the games!"

He ran back into the stadium to show Phil their ticket.

Hikari rubbed her face.

"I've got a bad feeling about this"

Phil eyed the pass that Sora gave him.

"Hey, how'd you get this?"

"Can we enter the games now?" Sora asked.

"Well…I guess so. We start with the preliminaries. You ready for them?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

"Some real weirdos signed up for the games. Better watch yourselves" Phil said.

They all went into the arena and started the preliminary rounds.

Their opponents were a bunch of weak heartless.

Hikari simply casted a few thunder spells at them while Sora and Goofy attacked them.

"_I should have known that there would be heartless here" _she thought.

"_They're everywhere"_

They destroyed the heartless easily and striked their own victory poses.

(A/N: Hikari does Squall's victory pose since Leon is her older brother and everything. Sora simply does Cloud's)

They went up to Phil when they finished the preliminary round.

"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad" He said.

"Lucky you came to me for coaching"

Hikari rolled her eyes at his statement.

Just as Phil was about to say something, one of the contestants walked by.

He wore a military type outfit that was covered by a maroon cape. He had a clawed glove on his left hand while he had a fingerless one on his right.

His hair was a dirty blond color that was more spikier than Sora's and he had bright blue eyes.

As Hikari and the others made eye contact with him, she couldn't help but feel that she knew this guy.

He looked at her for a moment as if he was thinking the same thing before walking off.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat" Phil said.

"Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him"

Hikari hoped that they would. She wanted to know why she thought she had seen this guy before.

"_Could he be someone that I knew before I lost my memory?"_

The voice in her head giggled.

"_I did say that you would find someone that you know on this world"_

She wanted to see if the voice was true.

She went back into the arena when the next match was about to start.

For this round, she did a combination of magic and physical attacking. She would cast spells on the tougher enemies while she just hacked away at the easier ones. At one point, she threw her keyblade like a boomerang and had it land back into her hand when she destroyed a heartless.

"This key is full of tricks"

When they finished that round, they took another break and talked with Phil.

"Say, you two are better than I thought! I wish he was here to see this"

"Who?" Hikari asked.

"Hercules. He's a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he's off visiting his father"

They went back into the next round and had to focus more on using magic than brute strength. The heartless they were up against were the magical kind and could only be destroyed with magic.

Hikari and Donald had no trouble since they were more attuned to magic than Sora and Goofy.

When they were finished, they were pretty much drained out from their fight.

"_And we're not even half way done yet" _Hikari thought.

"_Good think Ni-san and Mikomi those extra sets of potions"_

She just endured through the next few fights without complaining. She knew it wouldn't get her anywhere so why waste her breath? Plus, she was getting close to fighting that mysterious guy.

She was glad when they finished their latest fight.

"_Even a girl like me can hold on this long" _

Off by the bleachers, Hades was talking to the blond haired guy.

"Those little brats are your next opponents, okay?"

The blond didn't respond as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Now don't blow it. Just take them out"

The guy looked at Hades dully.

"The great god of the underworld is afraid of a couple of kids?" he asked.

"Sorry, but my contract says-"

"I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! Hades exploded.

"I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament, but you've got to fight those kids to get to them, come on"

He gave him an evil smirk.

"Besides, you want me to help you look for that person you're searching for, don't you? If you do this, I'll help you find her"

The blond didn't say anything. He slowly pulled out a necklace with a single black wing on it.

This was his way of saying that he was in on Hades' plans.

"Hey, it's like that old goat says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and fun with it!"

The man didn't say anything.

"I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

The man put the necklace away and walked away from Hades.

"Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home" he said to himself.

"Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…"

As he said this, a distinctive growling could be heard within the depths of the bleachers.

Hikari groaned as she rubbed her sore arm.

She had went up against one of the giant heartless and found out that they had some sort of barrier placed on their front half and that they liked to body slam their opponents.

"I should have known that they were vulnerable in the back" She said to herself as she downed a potion.

She made a face at the bitter taste of the medicine.

She didn't care though. Her next opponent was that mysterious guy, so she needed to be in top condition.

As they stepped onto the fighting ring, she noticed that he was holding a large sword that was wrapped up in bandages.

"_And I thought Ni-san's sword was huge"_

The guy didn't give them a warning when the match started.

He jumped up into the air and slammed his sword into the ground, sending a giant shock wave to everyone and throwing them off their feet.

Hikari had to roll away when he tried to bring his sword down on her.

She clashed swords with him a few times when she was lucky enough to get close to him. As this happened, she was able to get a better look at him. She knew that she had seen this man before, but she didn't know from when and where.

Everyone was pretty much getting creamed by this guy. He managed to knock Goofy out and Donald was about to keel over any second now too.

Sora didn't look so good as he clashed swords with him.

While Sora was fighting him, this gave Hikari the perfect time to use her powers.

She focused on Sora's opponents and dug through his deepest memories.

_Hikari watched as Leon was practicing with some blond guy. _

_They were evenly matched when it came to sword fighting. _

_Hikari bounced in her seat as she watched her older brother fight. She always thought he looked so cool using his Gunblade._

_She cheered him on when he got the upper hand in the fight._

"_Yay! Ni-san!"_

_When the blond guy whacked Leon's sword out his hands, the match was over._

_Hikari went up to her brother and hugged his leg._

"_Ni-san lost" She pouted._

_Leon just chuckled as he ruffled her hair._

"_Don't worry, Hikari. I'll win next time"_

_She grinned at that._

"_Yay!"_

_She turned to the blonde man and hid behind Leon's leg. The emotionless look he was giving her made her feel uneasy._

_Leon knelt next to her and placed his hand on her head._

"_Don't tell me you're afraid of Cloud?"_

_She bit her thumb nervously as she shook her head._

"_Then say hi, I'm sure he's missed you"_

_She looked at Cloud through her bangs and fiddled with her dress._

"_Hi, Cwoud" She said._

"_It's 'Cloud', Hikari" Leon corrected him._

_Cloud just waved him off._

"_She's only 4. My sister says the same thing"_

"_Ni-sama!"_

_He turned around to see someone running up to him, but the rest was a blur._

"_Cloud!"_

Now she remembered.

He was Leon's best friend on their world. He would always train with him when they had nothing to do. He scared her a little with that cold look of his, but he was always nice to her and looked after her when Leon wasn't around. She also remembered that he had a younger sister too.

"_Wait, who was his sister?"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Cloud knocked Sora off his feet.

He raised his sword over his head to land the finishing blow.

Hikari panicked and ran in front of Sora protectively.

"Stop it, Cloud!"

Cloud froze when she said his name.

"How do you know my name?"

His eyes went wide when he saw her pendant.

"You're-"

He was cut off when he felt a presence behind him.

Instinctively, he pushed her out of the way as a giant paw slammed him to the ground.

A three headed dog stood before them, snapping it's three jaws at her and Sora.

They both panicked and took a step back.

Hades smirked off at the sidelines.

"Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen"

The three headed dog growled at Sora and the others.

Hikari was behind Goofy while the ravage beast snapped at them.

It was about to pounce on them, but was stopped by a man who suddenly ran onto the arena.

He lifted the monstrous dog and kept it at bay.

"Herc!" Phil shouted.

Hercules looked at Phil as he kept the dog at bay.

"Phil! Get them out of here!"

They all ran back into the stadium.

Hikari faltered in her steps as she looked at Cloud who was still underneath the dogs paw.

"Cloud"

Goofy grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"Come on, Hikari. We have to get out of here!"

He pulled her back into the stadium and left Hercules behind.

Phil panted when they got inside.

"Whew, that was close!" he said.

Hikari was still a little frazzled by the whole thing. She felt horrible that Cloud got hurt because he was trying to protect her.

"What was that thing?" Sora asked.

"That was Cerberus, guardian of the underworld." Phil said.

"Herc should handle him"

He thought about it for a moment.

"But then again, maybe not…this doesn't look good"

That did it for Hikari.

She wasn't going to stand here while Hercules and Cloud were become Cerberus' new chew toys.

She went towards the arena entrance.

"Kid, you're not entering the arena, are ya?" Phil asked.

Hikari looked at him.

"Of course I am! I'm not going to let everyone fight my battles. And I have to save Cloud!"

"Who's Cloud?" Sora asked.

"He's that guy we fought. He used to live on my world and was Leon's best friend. He tried to save me from Cerberus before! I can't leave him there!"

"This ain't just some random match. This is for real!" Phil said.

"I'm not afraid!" Hikari declared.

"You can decide if I'm hero material or not"

Phil nodded in understanding.

"Be careful, kid"

She nodded and went to head for the arena.

"Wait Hikari!"

She turned around to see Sora, Donald and Goofy run up to her.

"We're coming too!" Goofy said.

"We can't let you hog all of the action" Donald replied.

"Yeah, and I can't just let you fight that dog alone. Leon would kill me"

She smiled at them.

"Thanks guys. Now let's go save Cloud!"

They ran back into the arena to save the day.

Hercules was backed up against the wall with Cloud thrown over his shoulder.

Cerberus had him cornered and it had its three heads baring their fangs at him. They all growled at him as they inched closer to him.

When they heard footsteps behind them, they turned around to see Hikari and the gang run up to them.

Cerberus growled at them and turned their full attention to them.

This gave Hercules the chance to run back to the stadium and get Cloud to safety.

Phil stood off to the side lines as he watched this trainees face off against Cerberus.

"I have to words of advice: Attack!"

Hikari immediately launched a barrage of spells at Cerberus when the fight started. She didn't know how the dog fought and she didn't want to give it a chance to attack.

It seemed that magic didn't really have an effect on it since attacked anyway as it was getting hit.

It sent out fire balls from its mouth and tried to hit everything within its path.

Hikari was able to dodge them since her pendant would create a barrier around her. She still found it strange that her lucky charm suddenly had magical powers.

When Cerberus stopped launching fireballs at them, it would try to bite them with its three heads.

Hikari got bit a couple of times, but she used that as her opportunity to attack.

She used her keyblade and stabbed the eye of the left head. She figured that the middle headed dog was the main head, so she decided to pick off the weaker ones first.

She managed to blind the left head, but jumped out of the way when it made a massive earthquake from jumping.

She got caught in the blast and landed in a heap.

Her body felt like it was on fire as she tried to get up.

'_Why am I the one who always gets hurt?" _she thought.

"_Is it because I'm as strong as Sora? Is it because I'm a girl that I can't fight real good?"_

She didn't want to believe that girls couldn't fight.

She had worked so hard to become stronger by practicing with Sora and Riku.

She wanted to impress Riku by showing that she was capable of fighting and that she was as good as him.

She got to her feet and pointed her keyblade at Cerberus.

The dog reared its three heads back for a second before throwing them down. Dark smoke came out of their mouths and seeped into the ground. Black spots appeared around the arena and shot up beams of darkness from them.

Hikari had to dodge them so she wouldn't get hit. She had a feeling that if she got hit by that stuff, then she was done for. Plus, she was terrified with anything that dealt with the dark so she was running from fear.

When the attack was finished, Cerberus went back to biting at everyone.

When she saw that the middle head was about to bite Sora, she panicked.

"Sora!"

She threw her keyblade like a boomerang and hit the dog right in the snout.

The head looked at her and growled.

Hikari gulped as it headed for her. Sora and the others were at the other end of the arena and she was here by herself.

When it went to snap its three heads at her, she slid under its belly to get away. She used this at the opportunity to strike it hard in the gut and managed to do some serious damage to it.

Cerberus let out a yelp in pain, letting its guard down.

Everyone took this at the opportunity to attack while it was dazed in pain.

Hikari put her everything into her attacks as she hit one of the heads.

She aimed for the left while Sora got the middle and Donald and Goofy attacked the right.

Hikari felt her energy drain as she kept fighting.

She knew she wasn't going to last long. She was still tired from the preliminary matches and from fighting Cloud. She just couldn't fight anymore.

She looked at her keyblade. It had bits of blood splattered on it from when Cerberus bit her.

She held it tightly and closed her eyes.

"_Please" _she prayed.

"_Please help me finish him"_

Her keyblade suddenly glowed and grew warm in her hands.

She looked at it strangely for a moment, then looked at Cerberus.

She gripped her glowing keyblade and charged at the three headed dog.

Cerberus growled at her and went to spew fire balls at her.

She was one step ahead of it and jumped up when it lowered its head for the attack.

She slammed her glowing keyblade on the middle head and watched as beams of light shot out through her keyblade and impaled all three heads.

Cerberus let out a strangled yelp before collapsing to the ground.

Hikari looked at her keyblade to see it stopped glowing.

She looked at Cerberus then back at her weapon.

"You are sure full of surprises" she said to herself.

She grinned at her weapon.

"Thank you"

After the little fight with Cerberus, they all went back into the stadium to meet up with Phil and Hercules.

The goat man was impressed that they were able to defeat Cerberus and felt that he had to reward them in some way.

He made up a little speech and declared their reward.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Furthermore-"

"Hey! What do you mean 'Junior heroes'?" Donald bellowed.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero" Phil said.

"So, what does it take?" Goofy asked.

Everyone looked at Hercules.

"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did"

Sora nodded.

"No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games"

Hikari sighed.

"Fighting in the games alone won't prove anything, Sora" she said.

"Fighting isn't the only way to find answers. You have to take these things one step at a time. Otherwise, you're just going to lose sight of what you were aiming"

"You're friend's right. She knows what she's talking about" Phil said.

"You won't become a hero just by fighting. Like I said, it's more than just brute strength. You're little girlfriend is on her way to become a hero"

Sora and Hikari panicked.

"We're not a couple!" they said in unison.

Hikari panicked at the thought of being Sora's girlfriend.

"_I love Riku! I love Riku! I love Riku!"_

Phil laughed at that.

"Besides, there won't be any games for a while. Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first"

Sora nodded.

"Ok. We'll be back"

They waved goodbye to Phil and Hercules as they left.

"I still can't believe those squirts actually beat Cerberus" Phil said once they left.

Hercules smirked as he looked at his trainer.

"Just between us, I'd already worn Cerberus down by the time they jumped in"

Phil shook his head with a knowing grin.

"My lips are sealed"

When they walked out of the stadium, Hikari spotted Cloud sitting on the steps that lead to the Gummi ship.

"Cloud"

They went up to him so see him deep in thought.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sora asked.

Cloud looked up at them.

"Yeah" he said.

He looked at Hikari.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks for pushing me out of the way"

Cloud nodded.

"So, why did you go along with Hades, anyway?" Sora asked.

Cloud closed his eyes in thought.

"I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help" he said.

He stood up.

"I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light"

"Who are you looking for?" Hikari asked.

"My little sister. We got separated when are world was taken over by the heartless. I've been searching for her this entire time"

"Sister?"

The memory that she saw before flashed into her head, only this time continuing.

"_Ni-sama!" _

_He turned around to see someone running up to him._

_Mikomi ran up to her brother and latched herself to his leg._

_She had a big grin on her face as she hugged her brother tightly._

_Cloud ran had hand through her hair as he let her hug him._

_He saw that she had dirt all over her face and outfit once again._

"_Mikomi, why are you covered in dirt?"_

_Mikomi giggled as she looked at her brother._

"_I was training with Yuffie and I won! It got a little messy since she likes to fight dirty"_

_Cloud sighed as he held the bridge of his nose._

"_That means I have to give you another bath. Fun" _

_Mikomi just giggled and pressed her face into his chest._

"_It's fun messing with you, Ni-sama"_

"_You'll be the death of me, I just know it"_

_Mikomi didn't say anything and just hugged her brother._

"_I love you Ni-sama!"_

It finally dawned on her who Mikomi was talking about when she was in Traverse Town. When Mikomi mentioned about her older brother, she was talking about Cloud.

"You're looking for Mikomi?"

He nodded.

"I've been searching for her for years, but the darkness blocked my path, and didn't know which way to look"

"We just saw Mikomi a while ago. She was with Leon and the others at Traverse Town."

Hikari suddenly remembered the charm Mikomi gave when she went off for her quest to find Riku.

She pulled out the charm from her pocket and examined the white wing. She knew that Mikomi gave this to her to keep her safe on her journey, but her heart was telling her that it should go to Cloud.

She pulled out his hand and placed the charm in his palm.

"Mikomi gave me this to protect me on my journey. But I have a feeling that you should hold onto it. Maybe this will help you find her"

Cloud looked at the winged necklace in his hand. It was as if he hadn't seen it in a long time and was relieved to see it again.

His fingers slowly wrapped around the wing and held it to his chest.

"I don't know if I'll be able find her. I've lost sight of my light, and I don't know if I'll be able to get it back"

"You'll find it" Sora said.

Cloud looked at them.

"We're searching too"

"For your light?" Cloud asked.

Hikari nodded.

"And the ones that are precious to us"

Cloud pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Hikari.

"Don't lose sight of it"

Hikari looked at her hand to see a necklace that was similar to Mikomi's only it was a black wing.

"When you see Mikomi again, give that to her" Cloud said.

"Let her know that her older brother is still searching for her"

She nodded.

"You can count on me"

Cloud nodded in return and walked away.

Sora waved at him.

"How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

Cloud stopped and brushed the hair out of his face.

"I'll think I'll pass"

With that, he walked away.

Once he left, Hikari turned to the others.

"Come on, let's go"

They all left and headed for the Gummi ship.

Once our heroes left, Hades appeared out of nowhere and held up a figurine of Hercules.

"He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating! He drives me crazy!"

He set the figurine on fire in a fit of anger.

He let out an angry breath before calming himself down.

"Wait a minute? What are you worried about?" he said to himself.

"All the pieces are in place, relax. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train those brats. In the next games, I'll take them all out"

He sensed someone behind and didn't even need to look to see who it was.

He glared at Maleficent as she stood behind him.

"Who invited you to the party?" Hades asked.

"Stay out of this. This is my show"

Maleficent grinned wickedly.

"As you wish. Fight to your heart's content. Just don't under estimate the girl. She is Taiyouko's daughter after all"

Hades just glared at her as she left.

"Creepy old witch"

Hikari flopped into her seat when she went into the ship.

Her whole body was so sore from all of the fighting and she just wanted a nap.

Goofy patted her on the head as he passed by.

"You sure did put up a fight out there, Hikari. Good job"

She gave him a weak smile.

"Thanks, Goofy"

She yawned.

"I think I'll take a little nap. I'm exhausted"

"Good night then"

"Night"

She felt herself drift to slumber land as she felt the ship move.

As she fell asleep, she recalled that one time when Sora and Riku wouldn't let her practice with them.

_Flash back: 8 years ago continued._

_Hikari was sobbing as she sat on the Paopu tree. She wanted to learn how to use a sword, but Riku and Sora were being jerks and wouldn't let her._

_She wiped her eyes with her arm and continued to cry. She was so caught up in her crying that she didn't notice that Riku had come up to her._

_He had a guilty look on his face as he watched his friend cry, knowing he was the one to blame for it._

_He took a step forward toward her._

"_Hikari"_

_She stopped her crying and looked at him. When she saw it was Riku, she glared and crossed her arms._

"_Go away! I don't want to talk to you!"_

_She looked away from him in anger._

_Riku sighed and took a seat next to her on the tree._

_He felt bad that he made her upset, but he was just trying to keep her safe._

"_Listen, Hikari. Sora and I just don't want to see you get hurt. We tend to get a little rough when we practice"_

_Hikari just glared at him again._

"_I don't care! I want to use a sword, but you're both being jerks by saying girls can't fight!"_

_Riku rubbed his head nervously._

_Leave it to Sora to screw things up._

"_I never said that girls couldn't fight. They just tend to get hurt more than guys"_

"_You're not making me feel better!" she snapped._

_Riku waved his hands to show he didn't mean it that way._

_They were both quite for a moment before Riku spoke out._

"_Why do you want to practice with us so badly?"_

_Hikari looked at the ocean as she spoke._

"_I want to be like you" she said quietly._

_That took Riku off guard._

"_Huh?"_

_Hikari had a light blush on her face as she looked at him._

"_You look so cool when you fight with Sora. I want to be able to fight like you and feel cool as well"_

_Riku didn't expect that. She wanted to be like him? That was new. Still, it did seem interesting, now that she said it._

_He had a cocky grin on his face as he rubbed his chin._

"_You think I'm cool, huh?"_

_He jumped off the tree and looked at her._

"_Alright then, I'll train you"_

_Hikari looked at him surprised._

"_Huh?"_

_Riku gave her a smirk._

"_You said you wanted to be like me. I want to see what that looks like" he said._

"_If I let you train with Sora, you're bound to lose every fight. But if you train with me, then you'll win, no problem"_

_Hikari smiled brightly at him._

"_Thank you, Riku!" _

_She jumped off the tree and tackled him into a hug. _

_Riku was flustered as she clung to him like that._

"_I promise I won't let you down! I'll be your best student ever!"_

_Riku blushed when she rubbed her face against his._

_He tried to push her away in embarrassment._

"_T-that's great. Now let me go"_

_Hikari laughed as Riku tried to pull her off_

Hikari smiled fondly at the memory. This was one of the reasons why she was so madly in love with him.

She curled up in her sleep as they kept flying.

"_Don't worry, Riku. I'll find you, no matter what"_

**A/N: Just what does Maleficent want with Taiyouko? She's been talking about her in these last few chapters. Try to guess to see if you know the answer.**

**Once again, I apologize to the suckiness. Hopefully my next chapter could fix that and make this story better.**

**If you could please send in positive reviews, that would healed my wounded pride.**

**Ja ne**


	11. Back to Traverse Town

Chapter 11: Back to Traverse Town

**A/N: Hello! We're back with another installment to this awesome story (or at least I think so). Hikari gets to see her brother again, that should be nice. Let's see what Traverse Town has in store for her.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own our lovely heroine, Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As Donald flew the Gummi ship through space, Sora was looking at his keyblade.

He was wondering why it kept reacting on every world they had been on. Whenever they found a keyhole, his keyblade would act on its own and shot out a beam of light.

Hikari's acted the same way, but hers tended to act up more. After that little incident at the Coliseum, she wondered why her keyblade glowed like that.

She drew out her keyblade and examined it for a moment. She thought it was strange that her keyblade was entirely white while Sora's was yellow and silver. From the hilt to the blade, everything was a pure white. Even the heart shaped keychain at the end was all white. It looked really pretty and appeared to be too frail to be used as a weapon. But after slashing so many heartless and monsters, it proved Hikari wrong.

She twirled her keyblade around for a bit and watched as it became a blur of white.

Donald saw her fooling around in the rearview mirror and frown.

"Knock that off, Hikari" he said.

"I don't want you breaking something by twirling that keyblade of yours around"

Hikari frowned, but dismissed her keyblade.

She saw Goofy studying something that was in his hand.

"What are you looking at, Goofy?"

The knight looked up at her and held the strange Gummi block that they found in Deep Jungle.

"I was trying to figure out what this Gummi block was for" he said.

"I've never seen one like this before, so I was wondering what it's used for"

Sora sat up in his seat.

"Now that I think about it, I've been wondering why my keyblade has been acting up in certain parts on each world that we've been on"

Hikari pulled out her keyblade again.

"My keyblade has been acting up too. Plus, it did that little trick when I hit Cerberus. I wonder why it did that?"

"Maybe Leon might know something" Donald said.

Sora perked up at that.

"Hey! You're right. He knew a lot about the keyblade when we first saw him. Maybe he'll know why it acts up"

"And maybe he'll know what this Gummi block is for" Goofy added.

Hikari grew excited at the thought of seeing her older brother. She really missed him since she started traveling.

She suddenly remembered the necklace that Cloud gave her. She had to give it to Mikomi and let her know that he was searching for her.

"Let's go to Traverse Town. I'm sure everyone wants to know how we're doing"

Donald nodded and steered the ship towards Traverse Town.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

She frantically searched for Leon when they arrived at Traverse Town. Hikari wanted to tell her brother about all of her adventures so far and about the memories that she had seen.

She didn't understand why she was seeing some of these memories. She knew that half of them so far where her mother's memories and she wasn't part of them at all.

She also wanted to know more about her mom. She couldn't remember a lot about her since she just started remembering about her. She wanted Leon to tell her everything that dealt with their mother and what kind of person she was.

She spotted Yuffie walking out of the accessory shop.

"See you later, Cid"

Hikari grinned and ran up to her.

"Yuffie!"

The ninja turned around and saw her and Sora running towards her.

"Hey you guys, long time no see" she said.

"What brings you here?"

"We had some things that we wanted to ask Leon" Sora said.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Leon's probably at the underwater cavern. He trains there often" Yuffie said.

"The channel in the alleyway is connected to the cavern"

They thanked her and headed for the second district.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari lead the way as they went through the town. Since she lived here (or rather, remembered living here) she knew which way to go.

They ran into a few heartless along the way, but nothing that was a challenge.

When they reached the alleyway that was behind the hotel, they saw that the canal was closed off by a set of bars.

Sora tried to shake them a bit to see if he could open them, but had no such luck.

Hikari tried to open them too, but they wouldn't budge. She did however find out that some of the bars were loose.

"Let's slam up to them and see if we can break them down"

They all got in a line with Donald being in the front and Goofy in the back and ran up to the gate. They all slammed into it and managed to break it down.

"Woo Hoo! We did it!"

When they walked through, they noticed that the water got deeper and they had to swim through the other side.

The cavern was pitch black, which Hikari didn't like.

She whimpered a little and stuck close to Goofy.

"What's wrong, Hikari?"

"I'm afraid of the dark" she said in a quiet voice.

Goofy nodded in understanding and let her stay close to her. (A/N: He kind of acts like a father figure to her)

As they swam, they saw light up ahead.

Hikari swam faster and came to an opening where there was a patch of ground that was above the water.

Leon was currently practicing with Mikomi while Aerith watched.

Mikomi smirked while she blocked one of Leon's attacks with her samurai sword.

"Come on, is that the best you can do?"

Leon didn't say anything as he striked again.

Mikomi just jumped out of the way and pointed her sword at him.

"You fight like a girl, you know that?"

Leon glared at her.

"Why you little…"

"Ni-san!"

He turned around to see Hikari climbing out from the water.

"Hey, if it isn't Hikari" Mikomi said.

Hikari wrung her clothes out before running up to her brother and giving him a hug.

Sora waved at them as he, Donald and Goofy got out of the water.

Leon hugged Hikari back. He really missed his sister since he had been reunited with her.

When they finished their hug, Sora told them about their journey and about their keyblades.

Leon had sat down to take a break from his training while Aerith handed everyone something to eat.

"So, you found the keyhole" Leon said.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah. The keyblades locked it automatically"

"Good" Aerith said.

"Every world among the stars has a keyhole" Mikomi said.

"And each one leads to the heart of that world"

"There must be one in this town as well" Leon said

Hikari looked up from munching on a rice ball.

"What do you mean?"

"It was in Ansem's report" Aerith said.

"The heartless enter through the keyhole and do something to the world's core" Mikomi added.

"What happens to the world?" Sora asked.

"In the end, it disappears"

"What?!" the heroes shouted in unison.

"That's why your keys are so important" Leon said.

"Please lock the keyholes" Aerith pleaded.

"You're the only ones who can"

Sora rubbed his head.

"I don't know…"

"Seeing other worlds would probably serve you well" Leon pointed out.

"Yeah" Donald said.

"We gotta find your friends, and the king" Goofy added.

"I guess you're right" Sora said.

Hikari quickly remembered about her keyblade.

"Hey, Ni-san. My keyblade acts a little different from Sora's. It suddenly starts to glow when I'm fighting certain heartless and it seems to react differently when we seal up a keyhole"

Leon studied her keyblade for a moment.

"You're keyblade is different because it represents light" he said.

"While most keyblades are from the realm of light, your keyblade is part of the realm of light"

Hikari looked at him confused.

"I don't get it. How does that make my keyblade special"

"Every world has light within it. When the heartless invade a world, they try to snuff out that light so they can destroy that world. Your keyblade seals up the light of each world so the heartless can't reach it. Your keyblade is very important to the survival of each world. You don't have to only seal the heart of each world, but also the light"

Hikari looked at her keyblade.

"Wow"

Sora remembered that Goofy wanted to show Leon the Gummi block that they found.

"Hey Leon. This Gummi block is different from the others. Do you know what it's for?"

He studied the block for a moment, but couldn't think of anything.

Mikomi rolled her eyes at her friend's stupidity.

"Ask Cid, he should know"

Sora nodded and went to leave.

Hikari looked at Leon for a moment then at Sora.

"You guys go on ahead. I want to catch up with Leon"

Sora nodded and left her with her brother.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When Sora left, she told her brother about her adventure so far.

Aerith had gone back to see what Yuffie was doing while Mikomi stayed to listen.

She told Leon about how she was able to defeat certain heartless with her quick thinking and all of the new spells and tricks that she learned on the way.

She told him about the memories that she witnessed as she traveled the worlds.

"Do you know why I'm seeing these memories, Ni-san?"

Leon mulled over everything that she told him.

He knew about her special powers since she had them as a kid.

He shook his head as he thought over it.

"Not a clue. Normally, you tend to see other memories if you make any type of contact with someone. Since we never saw mom when we left our world, I don't understand why you would be seeing them now"

Hikari sighed sadly.

"I wish I didn't lose my memories. It just makes things so complicated"

Leon ruffled her hair and handed her another rice ball.

"Don't worry about it. You've been regaining them since you started on this journey. You'll remember them in no time"

Mikomi came over and put Leon in a head lock.

"And if you don't, your older brother will always remember for you"

Hikari laughed as she saw Leon trying to push Mikomi away.

She suddenly remembered that she was suppose to give Cloud's charm to her.

"Oh, yeah! Mikomi, do you know what happened to your brother, Cloud?"

Mikomi looked sad as she thought about him.

"No. When the heartless invaded our world, we got separated. He stayed behind so the heartless wouldn't come after us and said he would catch up with us, but he never came"

Hikari pulled out Cloud's charm.

"Well, I just saw Cloud on the last world we were on"

Mikomi's eyes went wide.

"What?" She said in a shaky voice.

"You did?"

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. He said he was searching for you and that he hasn't given up yet. He also wanted me to give you this"

She handed her the necklace.

"I know you gave me yours for good luck, but I felt that Cloud should hold onto it"

Mikomi looked at the necklace. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran her finger along the black wing.

"I never thought I would see this again" she choked.

She curled her fingers around the tiny wing.

"Our necklaces were a set when we got them. Ni-sama took the black one, claiming that it wouldn't look good on me. He always looked out for me and acted like a father figure"

She gave Hikari a weak smile.

"Thank you for bringing this to me, Hikari. It means a lot to me"

Hikari nodded.

"No problem"

Mikomi got up from her seat.

"I got to show this to Yuffie and Aerith. They're going to flip"

She waved good bye to them and left the two siblings together.

Leon pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Hikari

"Speaking of lucky charms, I want you to hold onto this"

Hikari looked at the exotic looking stone that Leon gave her.

"This lucky charm has helped me out through tough times. I want you to hold onto it. Mom made back when we were little, so it has mystical powers"

Hikari looked at the stone for a moment.

"Ni-san…what was mom like?"

She looked up at her brother.

"I'm still remembering her, but I want to hear about her from your perspective. What kind of person was she like?"

Leon thought about what he was going to say.

"She was a very kind person" he began.

"She was really beautiful, and she always had a smile on her face. She was a very powerful sorceress on our world, and she was an expert at magic. She always tried to see the good in everything and felt that everything happened for a reason. She defended our world when the heartless invaded it, and protected us from the darkness. She was like an angel almost"

Leon then looked at her.

"You look just like her too"

Hikari hugged her knees.

She could see her mom being like that. She remembered her mom always smiling in the memories that she had of her.

"What ever happened to her?"

Leon ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, when the heartless invaded our world, she stayed behind to fend them off while we got away. That was 9 years ago"

Hikari's face fell.

"I wonder if she was able to get away"

"Who knows. But she would have rather that we got off our world than her. We always came first to her"

Hikari sighed contently.

"Thanks for sharing this with me, Ni-san"

Leon smirked and ruffled her hair.

"Anything for you, Hikari. I'm just glad to have you back again"

Hikari smiled when he ruffled her hair.

"Were you that upset when I disappeared?"

Leon nodded.

"Couldn't sleep for a week. I spent the whole time searching for you. I was beginning to think that I was never going to find you, but then you appeared"

Hikari smiled.

"I'm glad"

After they talked for a bit, Sora came back.

"Did Cid tell you what that Gummi block was for?"

"Yep. He said it was a navigation Gummi"

"What does that do?"

"I guess it lets us travel to other worlds. Cid's installing it now, but we have to return this book to someone for him"

"Ok, cool"

She stood up and brushed herself off.

She looked at Leon and smiled.

"Thanks for the talk, Ni-san"

Leon smirked.

"You stay out of trouble, ok?"

She nodded and left with Sora and the others.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"So where does this book need to go?" Hikari asked.

Sora shrugged as he held the book up.

"I guess some old house that's within the third district. I have no idea where that's at, how about you?"

Hikari thought about it for a moment.

She didn't recall seeing any houses in the third district, but she did remember a strange looking door near the end of the district. Perhaps the house was there.

"I think I know where it's at. Follow me"

She led them to the door that was hidden by most of the buildings. It appeared to be made out of an ancient type of wood and had a flame in the center of it.

Sora tried to open it, but it wouldn't move.

"It won't open"

Hikari looked at it for a moment.

She ran her hand across the fire emblem that was carved into the wood.

Images of fire flashed through her head as she touched the emblem.

"I think it's locked by magic" she said.

"The only way to open it is with magic"

Sora scratched his head.

"What type of magic are we suppose to use?"

"Look at the symbol on the door. It's a clue"

They all looked at the symbol and got the idea of which spell to use.

Donald pulled out his staff and casted a fire spell.

They heard a distinctive click that told them that the door was open.

Hikari pushed the door open and found an old house standing within a dark cave.

She whimpered when she saw how dark it was and that there was not a single bit of light within this place.

"Why does this town have to have so many dark places?" she whined.

Sora just pushed her along the stepping stones towards the house. They had to be careful since they seemed to move on their own. They would jump to the next one when it was within reach, otherwise they would have fallen into the water.

When they reached the house, they saw that the front door was blocked up by boxes.

"How are we supposed to get inside then?" Sora asked.

Goofy walked around the house until he found an opening.

"Hey, we can get in through here" he said.

They went through the hole and found themselves within an empty room.

"It looks like no one is here" Donald said.

Hikari rubbed her arm nervously as she looked around.

The house was a lot darker inside than it was outside. She could feel herself trembling as her fear over the dark took over.

She was so caught up in her fear, that she didn't even hear Sora call out Kairi's name.

"_I hate the dark! I want to get out of this place now!" _she thought.

She suddenly heard melodic laugher coming from behind.

"Oh dear, it seems you still have a fear over the dark"

She turned around to see Taiyouko suddenly appear before her.

She had a gentle look on her face as she smiled at her daughter.

Her long white gown traveled behind her as she walked past her. Her long hair blew slightly behind her as she moved around.

"Although…it does look like that secret place back on the island. You know? The one where you drew a paopu fruit for that boy you love"

She looked back at her and smiled.

"Remember?"

Hikari was speechless as she saw her mother. She never thought that she would see her now. She looked just like she did in her memories.

She reached out a hand towards her, as if she was grabbing her.

"Mom?"

"Hikari?" Donald asked.

She looked back at her friends.

"Who are you talking to?"

"I was just talking to my-"

She turned around to find Taiyouko gone.

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

Hikari looked around the room.

"I thought it just saw…." She mumbled.

She shook her head when she realized that she must have imagined it.

"Never mind. It's nothing" she said.

"You must be tired if you're randomly talking to nothing" Donald said.

Hikari didn't say anything. She just looked at the spot where her mother once stood.

"_That was weird"_ she thought.

"_Why did I just see mother like that?"_

She suddenly recalled something that Taiyouko just said.

"_Wait a minute, how would she know about the secret place on the islands? She never made it off our home world, so how would she know about that place?"_

She rubbed her forehead.

"_I must be overtired. I need a break"_

"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected"

Hikari turned around to see an old mad with a pointy hat appear into the room.

They all went up to the man as he put his traveling bag down.

"You knew we were coming?" Sora asked.

"Of course" the old man said.

Sora looked at him wearily.

"Are you…a heartless?"

Donald studied the old man.

"He doesn't look like one"

"Oh, heavens, no" The old man said.

"My name is Merlin. As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home "

Hikari wacked Donald and Sora across the heads.

"You idiots! Of course he's not a heartless. If he was one, he would have that little heartless symbol on him like the other ones!"

Merlin laughed.

"My, my. What a spitfire you have for a friend" he said.

"Your king has requested my help"

"King Mickey?" Donald and Goofy asked in disbelief.

"Yes indeed" Merlin said.

He looked at them as he spoke.

"You must be Donald and Goofy"

He looked back at Sora and Hikari.

"And who might you be?"

"I'm Sora"

"Ah, so the Keyblade choose you" Merlin said.

"And you are, my young lady?"

"I'm Hikari"

Merlin studied her for a moment before breaking into a grin.

"Ah, you're the spitting image of Taiyouko"

Hikari grew surprised.

"You know my mom?"

Merlin nodded.

"Of course. She was my student when she was learning to become a sorceress. I must say, that she was my most gifted pupil. I had never seem someone wield magic so greatly as her"

He adjusted his glasses.

"I take it that you were chosen by the keyblade as well?"

Hikari nodded and drew out her keyblade.

Merlin studied it for a bit.

"Ah, what a magnificent weapon. I'm sure your mother would be so proud that you were chosen by the keyblade…but then again, she might have been upset"

Hikari frowned.

"How come?"

Merlin simply smiled as he waved a hand.

"Taiyouko didn't you or your brother involved with the heartless. She was like any other mother who wanted to protect her children"

Hikari smiled at that.

"What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked.

"Just a moment" Merlin said.

He put his back down and pulled out his wand.

"Presto!"

The bag magically opened up and things started to float out of the bag. In a matter of minutes, the empty room was filled with furniture and had light within it, much to Hikari's relief.

"There we go" Merlin said.

He turned back to the others.

"Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic" he said.

"Whenever you feel like training, just let me know. Oh, and one more thing"

He turned to the entrance of the house and spotted a white pumpkin.

Light suddenly gathered around it and out of nowhere, a woman appeared.

"Hello, I'm the fairy godmother" she said.

"Your King asked me to help too. I will assist you throughout your journey"

"I don't know how much I can be of help" Merlin said.

"But do stop by anytime"

Hikari thought for a moment.

If her mother was a sorceress, then shouldn't she be an expert at magic too?

She suddenly left the stone that Leon gave grow warm.

She pulled it out of her pocket and saw it glowing in her hand.

"Oh, my. You have a summoning gem" The fairy godmother said.

Hikari looked at her, then back at the stone.

The fairy godmother held her hand.

"Do you mind if I take a look at it, deary?"

Hikari shook her head and handed it to her.

The fairy godmother examined the stone for a moment.

"Oh, the poor thing" she said.

"This little creature lived in a world that was consumed by darkness. When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants. But this one had such a strong heart, he became a gem instead of vanishing with his world"

Hikari looked at the stone sadly.

"_Poor thing" _she thought.

"Can he regain himself?" she asked.

The fairy godmother nodded.

"Yes, but only his spirit. Now watch"

She waved her magic wand around.

"Bibbity bobbity boo!"

The stone glowed brightly and was created into the summoning gem to summon Simba.

"Whenever you call, he will help you. If you find any more of these, let me know"

Hikari looked at the summoning gem in her hand.

Sora pouted.

"No fair, you get to summon? What about me?"

Hikari grinned at him.

"Don't worry, Sora. I'm sure we'll find you a summoning gem. And don't forget the reason why we came here"

Sora nodded and pulled out the book.

"We were supposed to give this to you" he said as he handed it to Merlin.

The sorcerer took the book from him.

"Oh, that book" he said.

"So Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you very much. You wish to know what kind of book this is?"

They nodded.

"I'm afraid I don't even know myself" Merlin admitted.

"In fact, it's not mine. Somehow, it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere for now. This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it. Do look at it whenever you feel like it"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari walked up to Merlin. She wanted to see if he could help her improve with her magic. After hearing about her mom being a powerful sorceress, she wanted to be an expert at magic too. Plus, she wanted to try out the summoning gem that she had just gotten.

Merlin looked at her, as if he knew what she wanted.

"You wish to practice magic?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I should have known. You are Taiyouko's daughter after all. Magic runs through your veins"

He took them up to the second level of the house.

The whole room was filled with furniture and was large enough to move around.

"Feel free to use any type of magic you see fit" Merlin said.

"Good luck, Hikari" Sora said.

She smiled at him and went into the center of the room.

She pulled out her keyblade and nodded for Merlin to start.

"Very well, then. Begin"

He waved his wand and made all of the furniture come to life.

Hikari immediately pulled out her summoning gem and called out Simba.

"Give me strength!"

The mighty lion appeared beside her and roared loudly.

She patted his head and smiled.

"Help me out, ok?"

The lion nodded and followed her around the room.

Whenever she pointed to a piece of furniture, Simba would let out a mighty roar and caused the piece of furniture to explode from the shock waves.

The two of them kept working together like that until Simba felt drained.

Hikari dismissed him and focused on using her magic.

She performed a series of fire attacks before switching it with blizzard and thunder.

Whenever she moved, she looked like she was dancing as she weaved her next set of spells.

When she felt drained from using too much magic, she would cast cure on herself and go at it again.

She kept doing this for about fifteen minutes before she felt like she got the hang of it.

"Very good" Merlin said.

"Your mother would be so proud of you"

Hikari smiled at that.

She turned to Sora and the others.

"Come on; let's go see if Cid finished putting that Gummi block on the ship"

They all nodded and left the training area and said good bye to Merlin.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As they stepped out to the third district, a heartless suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

It latched itself to Hikari's back and started clawing at her.

"Get it off!" She cried.

Sora was about to strike it, but someone did it for him.

"Come on, Sora. Snap out of it"

Sora and Hikari both gasped as they heard that voice.

"_It can't be!"_

They both looked in front of them to see no other than Riku.

"Hey, you guys. What's up?"

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**A/N: So they finally caught up to one of their friends. I wonder if it'll be a happy reunion for Riku and Hikari. The only way to find out is to send your reviews and tell me what you think. Also, did you think the brother/sister moment between Leon and Hikari was cute? **

**We'll get back to the main story in the next chapter. I just wanted to show a little family time in this story. **

**Please send me your review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne**


	12. Riku

Chapter 12: Riku

**A/N: I'm sure all you fan girls are looking forward to this chapter (or hate it, knowing what's about to happen) So as a thank you for all of the reviews from the last chapter, I quickly updated this story just for you.**

**Bear in mind, this one may be a little bit short since I want to keep this chapter all about Riku. But at least you guys get a new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Riku (cries) but I do own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

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Riku stood before them with a strange bat shaped sword in his hand.

He had a smile on his face as he looked at his two best friends.

"There you are. What's going on?"

Hikari was speechless as she saw Riku. She had been looking for him since their world was destroyed and now he was here.

He looked just like he did when she last saw him. He even had the same smile on that would make her heart melt.

He was really here.

Sora was pretty much acting the same way as she was. From the way he looked, it was as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Riku!"

He went up to him and started playing with his face.

Riku got annoyed by it and pushed him away.

"Hey, hey. Cut it out" he laughed.

Sora looked him up and down.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?"

"I hope not. Took forever to find you both"

Sora smiled.

Hikari couldn't help herself anymore and launched herself at Riku. She threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.

"Riku!"

She pressed her face into his chest and took in his scent. He still smelled of the ocean.

"I've been so worried about you! I've looked everywhere for you!"

Riku just grinned and returned the hug equally. He ran his hand through her hair and had his head rest on top of hers.

"I'm glad to see you too, Hikari"

She just smiled and enjoyed being hugged by her crush. It was like a dream come true.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After they had their little reunion. Hikari told them about their adventures so far and all of the memories that she had regained.

"And then, we were faced up with a three headed dog! It was so huge! And it leaves nasty bites"

She showed one of the bite marks that she got from Cerberus that didn't heal yet.

"Ouch, that had to hurt" Riku said as he inspected it.

Hikari just giggled and placed her hands behind her head.

"It was no big deal. After all, I'm a tough girl. Nothing in this world can take me down"

"I sure hope not" Riku said.

"I would be worried if anything happened to you"

Hikari blushed at the comment.

Sora suddenly realized that they were missing someone.

"Wait a second, where's Kairi?"

Riku turned to him.

"Isn't she with you?"

Sora shook his head sadly.

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island too"

Riku walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now"

As he was talking, he didn't notice a heartless was behind him.

"We'll all be together again soon" he said.

He walked away from him and headed for the entrance to the first district.

"Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this-"

He was cut off when he heard Sora slashing something.

He turned around to see Sora destroy the heartless.

He placed his keyblade on his shoulder when he finished and looked at Riku.

"Leave everything to who?" he asked.

Riku walked up to him.

"Sora, what did you…"

Sora grinned.

"Hikari and I have been looking for you and Kairi too" he said.

"With their help"

He gestured to Donald and Goofy, who both waved.

Riku looked at them emotionlessly.

"Who are they?"

Donald cleared his throat.

"Ahem, my name is-"

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you" Hikari interrupted.

Sora nodded.

Riku didn't look pleased for some reason.

"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed"

Goofy got behind Sora and Hikari and placed a hand on their shoulders.

"And guess what? Sora and Hikari are keyblade masters"

"Who would have thought it?" Donald said.

Hikari glared at him.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"So this is called a keyblade?" Riku asked.

They all turned to him so see him holding Sora's keyblade.

Sora looked at his hands to see it was gone and panicked.

"Hey, give it back"

Riku looked at it for a moment then handed it to him.

"Catch"

Sora caught and held it close to him like it was his infant.

Hikari rolled her eyes and brought out her keyblade.

"This is my keyblade" She said.

"It may look fragile, but you'd be surprised how much damage it can do"

Riku looked at her keyblade as well. He didn't hold it like he did with Sora, but he studied it.

"It looks a bit girly, if you ask me"

He then gave her a smirk.

"But it fits you"

Hikari stuck her tongue out at him.

"Thanks, jerk" she giggled.

"So, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asked.

Hikari beamed at the idea.

"Yeah! You have to come with us! Oh, you also have to meet my older brother! You know, the one I kept remembering"

She grabbed his hand and started pulling towards the first district.

"You're going to love him! He's really nice. Oh! And we've got this awesome rocket! Wait until you see it, it's huge!"

She kept smiling at the idea of finally being with Riku. But that all came to a crashing halt when Donald opened his big mouth.

"He can't come!"

Hikari froze in her tracks and had a scowl on her face.

She let go of Riku's hand and stomped over to the duck.

"What do you mean he can't come?!" she said as she got into his face.

"Just forget about it"

"Oh, come on. He's our friend" Sora insisted.

"I don't care!"

"Aww, come on, Donald. I'm sure one more traveling companion couldn't hurt" Goofy said.

Hikari grinned at that. It was nice to know that Goofy was on her side with this.

"Yeah, and don't forget that we have to find your king! Are we just going to abandon him too?"

"I said no and that's final!"

"Why you!"

Goofy looked up to see Riku was gone.

"He's gone"

They all looked to see that he was indeed gone.

"Riku?" Hikari called.

When she got no response, her shoulders slumped.

"Nice going" Sora said.

Hikari whirled around and aimed her keyblade at Donald.

"You jerk!"

She cast a thunder spell at him and watched as Donald dodged the beams of lighting.

Tears pooled up in her eyes. She had just found Riku after searching so many worlds and now he was gone.

She quietly sobbed into her arm as she let her keyblade disappear.

Goofy went up to her and gave her a hug.

"It's ok, Hikari. We'll see him again"

She just cried on the dog's shoulder as he patted her back.

"At least we know he's ok"

Hikari sniffled as she wiped her eyes.

She pulled away and looked at him.

"Yeah, you're right"

She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, Goofy"

The knight gave her a huge grin.

"Anytime"

Sora rubbed his head.

"And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon too"

Hikari gave him a weak smile. She knew that he was torn up about this, but hid it with a smile.

"_Way to take it like a trooper" _

"Hey guys!"

Everyone turned around to see Mikomi running towards them. Hikari saw that she was wearing Cloud's necklace, which made her smirk.

Mikomi panted when she caught up to them.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left" she gasped.

"Leon is having a group meeting, and he wants you to come to it"

She straighten herself up.

"It's at that small house in the third district. Since we're already in that area, it won't be such a walk. Now follow me"

She led everyone to where the meeting was.

Hikari walked a bit, but stopped to look back where Riku once was.

"Riku" she said sadly.

"Hikari, hurry up!" Donald called.

She growled in frustration and followed them.

"Stupid duck. Next time I'm going to roast you on an open fire"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Everyone seemed to look very serious over something when they entered the small house.

Leon was leaning against the wall while everyone else was just standing around.

Mikomi made a face at the group.

"Geez, what's wrong with you guys? You look like someone just died"

Hikari went up to her brother.

"What's up, Ni-san? Why did you call us?"

Leon, who had his eyes closed the whole time, slowly opened them.

"You guys ever hear of Maleficent?" he asked.

" I hear she's in town"

Mikomi looked horrified.

"That old bat is still around?!"

Leon nodded.

"Who is she?" Sora asked.

"A witch, man, she's a witch!" Mikomi screeched.

"She's the reason this town is full of heartless" Cid said.

"Don't take her lightly"

"She's been using the heartless for years" Aerith said.

"We lost our world thanks to her"

"One day a swarm of heartless took over our world. That was nine years ago" Cid said.

"I got out of that mess and came here with these guys and Hikari before she vanished"

"That's awful" Donald said.

Leon simply looked at the floor as he talked.

"Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem. He dedicated his life to studying the heartless"

"His report should tell us how to get rid of the heartless" Mikomi said.

"Where's this report?" Sora asked.

"We don't know" Leon said

"It got scattered when our world was destroyed. I'm sure Maleficent has most of the pages"

Hikari was quiet through this whole thing.

The name, Maleficent sounded really familiar. It was as if she had heard about her before.

Just then, a searing pain shot through her head.

She grabbed her head in pain and fell to her knees.

"Hikari!" everyone cried.

Hikari didn't say anything as the pain intensified.

She held her head tightly as a memory ran through head.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_Taiyouko stood in an open court within the town of their world. Her face looked grim as she held a large staff that had an intricate symbol of the sun on it._

_She was looking up at a ledge where none other than Maleficent stood. The evil sorceress glared at Taiyouko as darkness surrounded._

_Hikari was hiding a little behind her mother in fear. _

_Maleficent had tried to take a grab at her by using her magic, but Taiyouko countered it with her own magic._

_Maleficent glared at her._

"_Curse you, Taiyouko!" She hissed._

"_You have been a thorn in my side for too long! I will not allow you to interfere with my plans anymore!"_

_Taiyouko glared at Maleficent._

"_I will not allow you to harm the hearts of this world!" she cried._

"_Your lust and desire for the darkness is no match over my power of the light. No matter how deep the darkness may seem, a light will always shine within!"_

_Maleficent laughed evilly._

"_Stop spouting such nonsense. You know as well as I do, that the light does not suite you. If you would just give into the darkness, then your heart wouldn't have to suffer"_

_Taiyouko sent a beam of light at her, which Maleficent block with her dark magic._

"_Don't act like you know me! My powers over the light will overcome your powers of darkness! I will stop you once and for all!"_

_Maleficent grinned wickedly._

"_Oh will you now?" she asked._

"_How will you do that, when your light is snuffed out?"_

_She waved her hand and brought forth an army of heartless._

_The shadows surrounded Hikari and made sure there was no way for her to escape._

"_That child's heart belongs to me!" Maleficent cried._

_Hikari cried out when the heartless went to attack her. _

_She covered her head in fear as the black blobs jumped at her. They were suddenly thrown back by a shield of light._

_Hikari looked up to see Taiyouko casting the shield around her._

"_Mommy!"_

_Maleficent slammed her staff to the ground._

"_Curse you, Taiyouko!"_

_She sent a mass of darkness at her._

_Taiyouko simply swatted it away with a beam of light and had it sent back to Maleficent ._

_The witch cried out in pain as it hit her._

"_Never underestimate the power of light!" Taiyouko cried._

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari was roused awake to someone shaking her.

"Hikari! Wake up!"

Her eyes fluttered open to see Leon, Sora and everyone else surrounding her.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded slowly.

She realized that she was on the ground and felt her head swimming as she sat up.

Leon placed a hand on her back to steady her as she sat up. She held her head as her vision became clearer.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You suddenly passed out on us!" Yuffie cried.

"We thought something was wrong with you"

Hikari looked at the ground for a moment.

"I think I regained one of my memories" she said.

"That must have been some memory if it made you pass out like that" Mikomi said.

"What was it about?"

Hikari thought for a moment.

"It was about Maleficent" she said.

"She and mom were fighting with each other, and it seemed like Maleficent wanted me for something"

She looked at Leon.

He wore a concerned look on his face as he looked at his sister. That really scared her when she passed out.

"Did mom ever fight with Maleficent?" she asked.

"Did she know about her?"

Leon's expression grew grim.

"Oh yeah, she knew her alright" he said.

He helped her stand up and let her lean on him when she started to sway.

"When Maleficent first came to our world, she tried to take it over using the heartless. Mom wouldn't have any of it, so she fought with her and tried to send her away. They always clashed with each other. Mom believed in the power of light, while Maleficent believed in the power of darkness. They were always fighting with each other"

"Did Maleficent seem interested in me? I remember she wanted to use me for something"

Leon shook his head.

"I have no idea. All I remember is that Mom wouldn't let you or me out of her sight when she invaded our world. She even gave you that pendant to keep you safe"

Hikari touched her lucky charm.

She remembered when her mother gave her this charm

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"_Hikari!"_

_A four year old Hikari ran up to her mother as she called her._

_Taiyouko smiled lovingly at her daughter and squatted down so she could be eye leveled with her._

"_I have something special for you, Hikari"_

_The little girl's face lit up at the thought of getting something._

_Taiyouko giggled at her daughter's expression._

"_Now hold your hands out for me"_

_She did as she was told and held them out for her mother._

_Taiyouko raised her hand and waved it across Hikari's hands._

_A small sphere of light appeared before her and landed into her hands._

_The light started to take the shape of a heart and craved her named into the surface. _

_The light vanished and revealed a silver heart shaped pendant that had her name on it._

"_This is for you, my little princess"_

_Hikari smiled as she looked at the necklace._

"_It's pretty!"_

_Taiyouko giggled and took it from her hands and placed it around her neck._

"_Keep this with you at all times" she said._

_Hikari looked at the necklace that was around her neck._

"_Is it a lucky charm?"_

_Taiyouko nodded._

"_That right, and it will always protect you"_

_Hikari smiled as she played with the pendant._

_Taiyouko hugged Hikari tightly and ran her fingers through her hair._

"_Remember, Hikari. No matter where I go, my heart will always belong to you"_

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari smiled as she looked at her charm.

'_Thanks mom' _she thought.

She was soon bombarded by Sora, Donald and Goofy as they asked her if she was ok.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Outside of the house, Riku stood by the window with Maleficent next to him

The evil witch smirked as her plans began to unfold.

"You see? It's just as I told you" she said. She pointed to the window, where Riku could see Sora and Hikari.

He nearly let out a growl as he saw Hikari leaning against Leon, not knowing that he was her brother.

"While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions . Not only that…it seems he's taken your girl as well"

Riku clenched his fist when he saw Sora touch Hikari's forehead to see if she had a fever.

Maleficent smirked.

"It must be agonizing to watch as your best friend steals away your sweetheart . He couldn't find his girl, so he decided to take yours. You poor thing"

She looked at him.

"You're better off without that wretched boy"

She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Now think no more of him and come with me"

She smirked as she lead him away through the corridors of darkness.

Her plans were going into motion thanks to her new little pawn.

" _I wasn't able to snuff out your light Taiyouko. But I'll be able to stuff out your daughter's, thanks to this boy" _she thought.

"_Love is such a hassle that leads to heartbreak. You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Taiyouko"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: That darn Maleficent. She broke Riku's poor heart. He was so happy to finally find Hikari, and she spouted lies. She's up to no good, that's for sure. And what is with her obsession with Hikari? Or Taiyouko for that matter? **

**If you guess, I'll post the next chapter up! (I'll update anyway, but it would be nice to see what you think)**

**Hopefully, this chapter was really good. It seems like Hikari is going to suffer from heartbreak, but she's a fighter, she'll survive.**

**Send me your reviews and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne **


	13. Ring the Bell

Chapter 13: Ring the Bell

**A/N: Here we are with the next installment to this awesome story. I wanted to add another chapter before I have to study for my finals. I'm sure you all know what's going to be happening next due to the title. (This was one of my least favorite parts in the game, and I'm sure you all know why). Since this will be a fighting chapter, be sure to expect a lot of fighting. **

**Here's a poll for people who are Hikari fans: Do you think Hikari leans more towards the mage category or the fighter category? Which would you rather see her as? **

**Please send me your feedback so I can improve her character better.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdome Hearts, but I do own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

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Hikari was still upset that Riku disappeared like that. She was so happy that she had finally found him, but Donald shooed him away with his big mouth.

Her head felt a lot better after that little memory attack she had.

Leon kept hovering over her like a mother hen and kept fussing with her.

She thought it was nice that he was so worried about her. She remembered when she was little and they had first arrived at Traverse Town, he wouldn't let her out of his sight.

"_This place is way too big and dangerous for someone as small and frail as you" _he would say.

She smiled over the memory.

Leon was not only her older brother, but also her father figure too. She figured that since she couldn't remember her dad, she thought that she didn't have one. The only family members that she remembered were Leon and her mom.

Leon checked her over for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He tilted her head back a little and checked her eyes to see if they were normal.

"Are you sure you're ok? No head trauma or anything?"

"The only trauma she'll get is you hovering over her like that" Mikomi said.

Hikari smiled and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. But thanks for worrying"

Leon gave her a potion and told her to drink it before she did anything else.

She grimaced at the awful taste that the medicine provided.

"Why must medicine taste so horrible?"

"I don't know. I'm not the one who made it" Leon said.

The sound of a bell ringing caught everyone's attention.

"Was that a bell?" Sora asked.

"Hmmm. The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing" Cid said.

"That's odd" Mikomi added.

"That bell never rings"

"Never?" Hikari asked.

Mikomi shook her head.

"There's a legend about it, you know" Yuffie said.

"But it's all boarded up, so no one can get there" Aerith said.

"What's the legend's about?" Sora asked.

"Go check it out" Cid said.

"Ring it three times and see if anything happens"

The thought of a mystery pulled Hikari out of her funk. She needed something to take her mind off of Riku at the moment.

"Come on, Sora. Let's go see what it's about"

Sora rubbed his head sheepishly.

"I don't know, Hikari"

Hikari playfully punched him.

"Come on. Don't be a chicken. You're a keyblade master, this should be child's play"

Sora just sighed but just followed her out of the small house.

"Be careful, Hikari!" Leon called out as they left.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Going to the second district was a bit harder than they all thought it would be.

As soon as they stepped foot into the district, they were bombarded by heartless.

It wasn't so bad since they were just minor heartless, but they just kept producing like rabbits and kept popping everywhere.

Hikari got annoyed after slashing her tenth heartless.

"This is getting on my nerves"

She summoned Simba and had him get rid of the rest.

"Where are these heartless coming from?" Sora asked.

"Something must be nearby if they're acting up like this" Donald said.

"Maybe it has to do with the bell at the gizmo shop?" Goofy suggested.

"There's only one way to find out" Hikari said.

She pointed her keyblade to the gizmo shop.

"To the gizmo shop!"

They headed to the shop without any more heartless trouble, but they found out that they had to have power in order to get through the shop.

Hikari banged her head against the door when she remembered that the circuit was back in the third district, which meant that they had to go back.

Muttering a few curses, they went back to the third district and hotwired the circuit so the gizmo shop would work.

"Alright, now let's go to the gizmo shop and check out that bell" Hikari said.

They went back to the second district and had to once again fight more heartless.

They just plowed through them and ran away from the ones that were left standing.

They ran into the gizmo shop, hoping that they would get away from the heartless, but once they went inside, they were trapped.

There were a bunch of heartless waiting for them.

"Seriously, don't these things have anything better to do than try to eat us?" Sora asked.

Hikari didn't say anything as she slashed at the heartless in front of her.

"I have just about had it with these little pests!"

She cast lighting at them and zapped them into dust.

"You want a piece of me?!"

She jumped over one of them and stabbed the heartless in the back.

"That's right, don't mess with me!"

She teamed up with Donald and used their magic to get rid of the heartless.

Sora and Goofy didn't really do much since Hikari was in the zone.

If there was one thing that Sora learned while being Hikari's friend, it's to never disturb her when she's in the zone. She had a tendency to get really violent if she was disturbed.

She let out a battle cry as she hacked at the last heartless.

"I am the destroyer of all evil!"

She waved her keyblade around and nearly hit her friends.

Sora ducked and slowly approached her.

"Easy, Hikari" he said.

"You wanted to see the bell, remember? Let's not get carried away"

Hikari calmed down and fixed her hair. (It got messed up while she was fighting)

"You're right" she said.

"Sorry about flipping out, I just got caught up in the moment"

Sora smiled nervously and pushed her out to the back of the shop.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After going out to the back, they found a ladder that lead to the top of the shop.

"This must be where the bell is" Sora said.

They all climbed up and were up on the roof. Hikari saw a section of the roof boarded up by wood.

"That must be where the bell is at" Goofy said.

Sora tried to see if the boards were loose enough to pull off, but they were nailed shut.

"Looks like we're going to have to break it down"

They all got into the same position that they used to break the bars down to the cavern in the alleyway.

They all ran up and slammed into the wooden boards and were successful to breaking them down.

Hikari saw a rope dangling in the air.

Looking up, she saw the very bell that they were looking for.

"This must be it"

She grabbed the rope and turned to Sora.

"Can you give me a hand, Sora? I don't think I can pull this by myself"

He nodded and grabbed onto the rope.

They pulled at the same time and listened to the bell ring.

This seemed to trigger the fountain at the front of the district, since the scenery that was painted on the wall moved.

"I wonder what that was about?" Donald asked.

"We have two more rings. Maybe we'll find out then" Sora said.

They both rang the bell again and watched as the scenery to the fountain changed again.

"One more ring" Hikari said.

"I wonder what will happen?"

"There's only one way to find out" Sora said.

They both ringed it and watched the fountain change its scenery one last time. The water that was shooting out of the fountain stopped and the scenery revealed a keyhole.

"Hey! That must be the keyhole to this world!" Hikari said.

"This is the one that Ni-san was talking about"

"Then let's go seal it before the heartless get to it" Sora said.

Instead of going down the ladder like a normal person, they just jumped off from the roof and landed out in front of the gizmo shop.

Hikari landed gracefully to her feet while Sora almost fell over when he landed.

"I think you put too much 'oomph' when you took you're running start, Sora" Hikari said.

Sora rubbed his head while he grinned nervously.

"Sorry, just wanted to show off"

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, let's go seal the keyhole"

They ran up to the fountain with their keyblades drawn.

"One sealed world, coming right up"

They both pointed their keyblades at the keyhole. Just as they were about to seal Traverse Town, a giant armored heartless blocked their path.

They both jumped out of the way before it could crush them.

"Didn't we destroy this thing?" Sora asked.

"Apparently not since its standing right in front of us" Donald said.

They all launched into the attack and clobbered the heartless.

Since they knew how it attacked from their last fight, they were able to dodge and block it attacks.

It didn't take them long to destroy the heartless. Its body fell apart and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Sora said.

He and Hikari went to seal the keyhole again, but they heard a distinctive rattling behind them.

Turning around, they saw the Guard Armors body parts starting to rattle and shake.

The heartless suddenly put itself back together again.

"That can't be good" Hikari said.

The heartless shook for a moment, before suddenly going still. It suddenly brought its hands down to the ground and flipped its body up. The feet suddenly turned into a set of hands while mask came down on its head.

"Ok, that is so not good!" Hikari cried.

"This thing won't die, will it?" Sora said.

The heartless threw its hands (now feet) at them.

Hikari flipped out of the way and held her keyblade in front of her.

"Why don't we talk after we kill this thing?" she said.

Sora held his keyblade out as well.

"This shouldn't be a problem. We already beat it once; this should be a piece of cake"

Oh how he wished it was.

It seemed that the heartless was holding back its true power when they first fought it. Now that it was in its true state, it had a nasty set of attacks.

The one that was most dangerous to them was when it would turn itself into a cannon and blast spheres of energy at them.

Everyone had to be quick on their feet to avoid that attack, if they got caught up in it, it would mean serious consequences for them.

They simply hacked away at it bit by bit. It seemed to get weaker if one of its limbs was destroyed.

Hikari focused her attacks on the feet (hands). Those things could really pack a punch and she didn't want to get hit by one of them.

When the heartless turned around and aimed its canon at her, she quickly summoned Simba and had him blast the attack back at the heartless.

"I have to remember to thank Ni-san for giving me that summoning stone" She said to herself.

The fight kept dragging on for half an hour, and within that time, they were only able to destroy both the heartless' legs and arm.

Hikari felt drained as she performed a thunder spell.

She didn't have any potions on her and her body ached from running and dodging the heartless.

"_We need to end this battle quick. I don't think I can hold on any longer"_

She heard the voice giggling in her head.

"_If all else fails, just aim for the head" _it said.

That's when it clicked into her head.

The last time that they defeated this heartless, they attacked its head.

"_I wonder if it still has that same weakness?" _She thought.

She took her chances and climbed up the fountain so she could above the heartless.

"Here goes nothing" she said.

She waited until the heartless was chasing after Sora to launch her attack.

When it was close by, she jumped off the fountain and landed on its back.

She ran up its body and aimed her keyblade at its head.

"Let's see how well you fight without a head!"

She swung her keyblade like a golf club and smacked the heartless' head off its body.

The armor fell to the ground lifelessly and set its captive heart free. Thanks to its defeat, they were able to learn the power of wind.

Hikari fell of the body and landed on her rear end.

"Oww"

She stood up and rubbed her sore body.

"Why do I always get hurt after we defeat a boss?" she whined.

"Get used to it, you're a keyblade master" Donald said.

Hikari glared at him and stuck her tongue out.

"I don't need lip from you"

Sora pulled her away before another fight could start up.

"Come on, let's seal the keyhole"

Hikari grumbled and went over to the keyhole.

They sealed up Traverse Town's keyhole and were given another navigation Gummi.

"Let's see if Cid will put this on our ship as well" Sora said.

They headed back for the first district to see if their ship was ready.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Cid was waiting for them behind the synthesis.

"That took you quicker than I expected" he said.

Sora handed him the gummi.

"Well what do you know. Another gummi. I take it you want it put on your ship?"

"Yes please" Hikari said.

Cid examined the gummi.

"It looks like this one is part of a set. I can't add it to your ship without it's mate"

'"Looks like we'll have to find the other one" Goofy said.

"Yay! We have more exploring to do!" Hikari cheered.

"You guys be careful, ok?" Cid said

They nodded and headed for their ship.

"See you later Cid" Hikari said.

As they entered the ship, Hikari thought about what worlds they were going to see next.

She wondered if they would find Kairi on one of them and she wondered if they would see Riku again.

"_I found you once. I can find you again" _she thought.

"_I've come too far to quit now. I'm not going to give up until I have you in my arms again"_

This is what she thought as Donald pulled out of Traverse Town and headed for a new world.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: There you go. One more chapter for this awesome story. I'll update when my finals are over and I'm not worried about studying.**

**Remember to review and tell me what you think.**

**And don't forget to answer to the poll. That will help me improve this story.**

**Ja ne**


	14. Agrabah

Chapter 14: Agrabah

**A/N: We're off on another new world! Since I finally finished my finals, I can get back to writing this story! **

**Now I just have to play the waiting game. (anime tears)**

**Thanks again for responding to my poll, it'll help me out with Hikari's character.**

**Here's another poll/ question for you to vote on if you like:**

**Why do you think Maleficent is so obsessed with Hikari? Why does she think she'll be the key to her plan?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

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Hikari sat broadly in her seat as they traveled to their next world.

She enjoyed going on a new adventure, but she hated traveling to it. She was like a little kid how hated long car rides.

"Are we there yet?" she asked for the hundredth time.

Donald's eyebrow twitched.

"For the last time,no! Now sit down and shut up"

Hikari grumbled in her seat .

She looked out the window to see the stars.

They looked like little balls of light that seemed to float endlessly in space. It amazed her how beautiful they looked up close.

She sighed and pulled out her keyblade. She seemed to do this whenever she was board. She would look at her keyblade and admire its beauty. She felt lucky to have such a beautiful weapon such as this one.

As she was looking at it, a memory flashed through her head.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_Taiyouko ran down the dark corridors of what appeared to be a castle. She looked around frantically for someone as she ran._

"_Where are you?" she called out._

_She went up a couple of steps and opened a set of double doors harshly before running inside._

_What she saw when she entered the room nearly made the air rush out of her lungs._

_A man stood before what appeared to be a giant emblem on the wall that was the symbol for the heartless. The emblem was glowing and seemed to lead to another room._

_The man stood there, admiring its beauty._

"_What are you doing?!" she cried._

_The man turned around. The bottom half of his face was visible while the rest of it was all blurry._

_The man smiled at her when she ran up the steps._

"_I did it, Taiyouko. I finally found the keyhole to this world"_

_Taiyouko looked horrified at this._

_She shook her head frantically._

"_No! You promised me that you would stop with this obsession of yours with the heart of the worlds! Stop putting this world in turmoil with your foolish experiments! It's taking its toll on you!"_

_The man laughed at her._

"_Why on earth would you say such a silly thing?" he asked._

_He walked over to her and held her face in his hand._

"_All I'm doing is trying to study the nature of the heart. Why stop when I've gotten so far? Trust me Taiyouko, I'm about to make a breakthrough in my research. As soon as this keyhole is complete, then I'll be the greatest man that ever walked on this world. I will have mastered the powers of the heart. Surely you would want to bask in that fame?"_

_Taiyouko shoved him away and glared at him._

"_The only thing that you would have accomplished with this experiment is how corrupted a heart can get. I won't stand by your side as you slowly kill yourself over such nonsense"_

_She walked away from him with angry tears in her eyes._

_The man just smirked evilly as she walked away._

"_It doesn't matter what you do. I will get the princesses of heart. _All_ of them"_

_Taiyouko whipped her head around._

"_I'll stop you before you get your hands on any of them! I won't let you continue playing with people's hearts and claiming that it's for the good of everyone! This ends now!"_

_She stormed out of the room and left the man to himself._

"_We shall see about that"_

_He said._

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari shook the memory out of her head.

This memory was very similar to the one she saw in Wonderland. That guy was in this memory again and it seemed that he knew her mother well.

"_What was mom so mad about? And who was that man? How does he know her?"_

"We're about to land!" Donald called.

That made Hikari perked up.

"What world is this?"

"Agrabah"

Hikari got up from her seat and followed everyone out of the ship.

"_I'll deal with that memory later" _she thought as she stepped onto the sand.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

In a different part of Agrabah, Maleficent and Jafar were walking down one of the roads that made up the place.

"And the keyhole?" The evil sorceress asked.

"The Heartless are searching for it now" Jafar said.

"I'm certain we'll find it soon enough"

"So that just leaves…"

Jafar's pet parrot, Iago landed on his shoulder.

"Jafar! I've looked everywhere for Jasmine" the bird said.

"She's disappeared like magic!"

Jafar scowled.

"That girl is more trouble than she's worth"

Maleficent looked at him coldly.

"You said you had things under control" she said.

"Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in" Jafar replied casually.

"But why worry about princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the keyhole"

Maleficent walked forward a little.

"We need all eight princesses of heart to open the final door" she said.

"Any fewer is useless"

"Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her" Jafar said.

He summoned up a few heartless.

"Find the princess and bring her to me at once"

They ran off through Agrabah to find Jasmine with Iago's help.

"Don't steep yourself in darkness too long" Maleficent warned.

"The heartless consume the careless"

Jafar simply walked off to find Jasmine.

"Your concern is touching but highly unnecessary" he said as he left.

Little did he know, Jasmine was hiding behind one of the street vendors and had heard what they were talking about. She ducked her head down when she saw Maleficent looking in her direction.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Geez, this place is hot!"

Sora was fanning himself as they walked around the market place.

"It can't be as bad as the islands" Hikari said.

"It can get pretty warm there too"

"I know, but we usually get a breeze at least! I haven't felt a gust of wind since we landed here!"

"Just suck it up. The sooner we find the keyhole here, the sooner we can leave"

Sora just nodded and followed Hikari though the streets.

They ran into a couple of heartless along the way, but they would just freeze them with blizzard spells. Since this was a dessert like world, the heartless here were bound to be fire type.

"This place seems kind of run down" Hikari examined.

The buildings of this world were crumbling apart and parts of the walls were missing on some. The streets were dirty and there were turned over jars that had spilled contents on the ground. The vendors hardly had anything and didn't appear to sell really well.

"Maybe it's because this town is out in the middle of nowhere?" Goofy asked.

Sora just shrugged.

"I don't know how we're going to find a keyhole in a place like this"

"We'll have to search every nook and cranny with this place being so cluttered everywhere" Donald said.

"Talking about it isn't going to make the keyhole appear any faster" Hikari said.

"Let's just continue searching. We're bound to find something"

They walked just walked and searched the market place some more before they headed for the alley.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They walked into a dead end when they entered the alley.

"Well, it looks like we won't find anything here" Donald said.

They heard someone moving near one of the crates that lined up against the wall.

"Who's there? Hello?"

Jasmine popped her head out to see who was there.

"Hey, it's a girl" Goofy said.

Hikari went up to her and held her hand out.

"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you"

She helped Jasmine get out from behind the crates.

"Thank you" She said.

She looked at the strangers that were before her.

"Who are you?" Hikari asked.

"I'm Hikari, and these are my friends, Sora, Donald and Goofy"

"I'm Jasmine" the princess replied.

"My father is the Sultan of Agrabah"

"So that makes you a princess" Goofy said.

Jasmine nodded.

"Yes, but he was deposed by Jafar, who controls the city"

"Jafar?" Sora asked.

"You haven't heard of him?" Jasmine asked.

They all shook their heads.

"He's the royal vizier. He's gained evil powers and seized Agrabah"

"_Sounds like how Maleficent took over my home world" _Hikari thought.

"He's desperately looking for something… something called the 'keyhole'. Jafar caught me trying to escape, but he helped me"

"Who helped you?" Sora asked.

"We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something" Jasmine said.

"Oh, I hope Aladdin's alright"

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?"

They all looked up to see Jafar standing near a ledge.

Hikari made a face when she saw his little rat tail for a beard.

"_Gross!"_

Jafar grinned evilly at them.

"Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess" he said.

"Those little street rats won't do, you see"

He let out a girl scream when Hikari flung her keyblade at him like a boomerang.

"Jasmine, run!" Sora declared.

The princess did so and ran out of the alley while they were distracting Jafar.

The Vizier glared at Hikari.

"Why you insignificant, little brat" he hissed.

He suddenly realized who she was when he saw her keyblade.

"Ah, Taiyouko's brat. I should have known" he muttered to himself

Hikari held her keyblade out and pointed it at him.

"Get lost, will ya? We won't let you harm Jasmine"

Sora pulled out his keyblade as well.

"Ah, the children who wield the key" Jafar said.

He summoned up some heartless.

"Be extra harsh on the girl" he said.

"I don't care if Maleficent needs her, I want payback"

He left the heroes with his heartless.

"Get back here, you coward!" Hikari called.

She jumped out of the way when a bandit heartless tried to cut her in half with its sword.

She knocked it out of its hand and sliced it in half.

"You may have a sword, but you sure don't know how to use it!"

They managed to get rid of the heartless in no time.

"Now what do we do?" Hikari asked.

"That Jafar guy got away and we don't know where Jasmine went"

"Let's just keep looking" Sora said.

Hikari sighed but agreed to it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They continued walking through Agrabah and found area's that were gated shut.

"How are we supposed to get through?" Goofy asked.

Sora spotted at type of keyhole in the wall.

"Hey, maybe this will open it"

He stuck his keyblade into the keyhole and turned it until he heard a click.

The gates opened up and allowed them to pass.

"That's one obstacle out of the way" Donald said.

They continued onward and looked for Jasmine and the keyhole.

They ran into a couple of heartless, including some that were disguised as pots.

"These heartless can be just about anything" Hikari said.

They entered back into the main street area and looked around.

"Where should we look next?" Sora asked.

"Let's search inside some of the houses" Donald said.

"Why would we want to do that?" Hikari asked.

"Maybe the keyhole might be in one of these houses. Who knows, we're bound to find something"

"_You just want to be nosey" _she thought.

Sora pointed to the nearest house.

"Hey, let's look through here"

The only way they could enter the house is by climbing up a rope that was hanging out in the open.

Climbing this up was a lot easier for Hikari then climbing up the vines in Deep Jungle. Plus, she could use the wall as leverage when she struggled.

"I guess living on an island does pay off" She said to herself.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

There wasn't much to the house when they entered it. There were a few rugs hanging on the walls and some that were used as curtains for a window.

"Wow, there's barely anything to this place" Donald said.

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Well, you wanted to look in the houses. I bet they're all like this since this place is out in some type of desert"

She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Huh?"

She turned around and saw a dresser standing in the middle of the room with something underneath it. It was trying to get out with it thrashing around.

"What the heck is this?"

She pushed the dresser out of the way and saw that it was a magical carpet.

The carpet got up and bowed to her before flying out the window.

"Did that carpet just fly?" she asked herself.

"That carpet flew off towards the desert" Donald said.

"Let's follow it"

"What about Jasmine?" Sora asked.

"We'll find her later; I have a feeling that we should follow that carpet"

Hikari just sighed.

"Great, another goose chase" she said as they headed for the desert.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When they reached the outskirts of town, all they could see was a vast sea of sand. The desert stretched out as far as the eye could see. There were no trees and no traces of water anywhere. It was just all sand.

Hikari held her hair down when the wind picked up.

"I don't want to get sand in my hair" she whined.

"You can be such a girly girl, you know that?" Donald said.

Hikari glared at him.

"And you can be a real pain" she snapped back.

She didn't forgive him over the Riku incident.

"Come on you guys. Can't you two just get along?" Goofy asked.

"I would if he wouldn't act like such a jerk all the time" Hikari retorted.

"He can be such a stiff"

"I'm just being serious" Donald said.

"We're on a very important mission and we don't have time to fool around"

"We're off trying to chase a carpet, how is that being serious?. You need to lighten up, or else this trip is going to be super boring"

"This isn't a vacation! We need to find the king!"

"And I want to find Riku! I was so worried about him and just when I finally find him, you chase him away! You know I wanted to find him just like you want to find your king!"

"We don't have time to be searching for everyone, our main objective is to stick with the keyblade bearers and find the king"

"It's not all about what you want! Sora and I have been going to worlds, sealing keyholes, searching for your king and do we get a thank you from you? No! It's just 'let's go to the next world'. You never give us any credit you over size duck!"

She and Donald had lighting between their eyes as they were glaring at each other.

"Oh will you two just shut up!" Sora cried.

"You're acting like a bunch of little kids!"

Goofy nodded.

"We're suppose to work as a team. How are we going to do that if you two keep fighting? It's like I said before 'all for one, and one for all'. We're in this together, so we need to help each other. That includes searching for the King and Riku and Kairi"

Hikari and Donald just crossed their arms and looked away from each other. Goofy did have a point, but they didn't want to admit to it so easily. If they were going to continue this quest, then they had to put aside their differences and work together.

"I'm more than willing to cooperate with Donald if he doesn't take everything so seriously and lightens up a bit" Hikari said.

"I will cooperate too if Hikari doesn't continue whining about her precious Riku and takes this quest more seriously"

Hikari glared at Donald

"I'm sealing up keyholes, aren't I?" Hikari asked.

"You know what I mean. I meant don't goof off and act like this is a vacation. This is very serious stuff. The Heartless are after the worlds and we need to stop that. Quit acting like a kid and take your job as a keyblade bearer more seriously"

Hikari sighed in annoyance but gave in.

"Fine, but only if you ease up. I hate stiffs who take everything so seriously"

"Fine"

They both held out their hands and shook on their deal.

Sora sighed and placed his hands behind his head.

"Now that we have that aside, let's go find that carpet"

They didn't have to search for too long, since out of nowhere, the carpet appeared before them.

It flew around them a couple of times before landing in front of them.

"That was quick" Goofy said.

Sora went up to the carpet.

"Hey there" he said.

"Uh, I don't think it can talk, Sora" Hikari said.

The carpet moved around frantically and pointed out towards the desert.

"What's the matter? Are you trying to tell us something?" Sora asked.

The carpet got behind him and started pushing him in the direction that it was pointing towards.

"I think it wants to take us somewhere" Sora said.

"Should we get on?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know" Donald said.

"There's something about this carpet that doesn't seem right"

"Well, it flies, so there's your first clue" Hikari said.

Sora got on the carpet and sat down. He waited to see if it would throw him off, but the rug stayed put.

"It seems safe. Come on you guys"

They all slowly climbed on and held onto the edges.

Hikari looked to see the carpet hovering a few feet above the ground.

"I guess this isn't so bad" she said.

The carpet suddenly went up a few more feet and took off farther into the dessert. The magical rug zipped through the endless sea of sand like a rocket and made everyone hold on for dear life.

"I take that back! This is crazy!" Hikari shouted over the wind.

She held onto the back of her hair to make sure her ribbon wouldn't come out.

"Where is this thing taking us?!" Donald shouted.

"Who knows? We'll just have to find out!" Sora replied.

They held on tightly as the carpet took them to some unknown destination.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The carpet eventually took them to part of the desert that was really dark. As they arrived, they didn't realize that the sand was sucking up a man and his pet monkey.

Hikari was the first to get off. Her hair was messed up from the ride and was all over the place. She held her ribbon in her hair and tried to flatten her hair back in place.

"My hair" she whimpered.

Donald would have complained, but he was in the same situation as her. His feathers got ruffled by the breeze and they were sticking out and making him look poofy.

Sora fixed his spiky hair before looking around.

"Where are we?"

"Probably somewhere in the desert" Hikari said.

"I wonder why that carpet took us here of all places?"

Just then, bandit heartless appeared.

"Maybe for this?" Goofy asked.

Sora and Hikari whipped out their keyblades.

"That magic carpet took us all the way out here to fight heartless?" Hikari asked.

"Stupid rug!" Sora cried.

They went into the fray and started fighting the heartless.

Hikari immediately cast Aero on everyone so they wouldn't sustain serious damage from the heartless. She found out that the bandit heartless liked to throw their swords around and have them spin around the whole area. Whenever they got rid of a group, another batch of heartless would come up from the sand.

Hikari blocked one of the bandit's swords and kicked it out of the way.

"Stupid heartless!"

She cast thunder on it and watched as it zapped to dust.

The fighting went on for a couple of minutes.

Hikari kept getting closer to the sand pit as she kept fighting. When she destroyed the heartless that she was fighting, she finally spotted the man stuck in the sand pit.

"Oh my!"

She slid into the pit and started pulling the guy out. When she saw that he was out cold, she slapped him across the face a couple of times.

"Hey! Wake up!"

The man woke up and noticed that he was being pulled out of the sand pit.

Sora, Donald and Goofy went to see what was going on, but they were interrupted by another swarm of heartless.

"Gawrsh, not again!" Goofy cried.

The man was finally able to get out of the sand pit, thanks to Hikari's help.

He pulled out a lamp from his back pocket and rubbed it.

"Genie, get rid of these guys!"

Smoke came out from the lamp and produced a blue man. The magical being let out a victory cry as he came out.

"Wish number one, coming right up!"

He snapped his fingers and made the heartless disappear.

"Wow, that was pretty convenient" Sora said.

They all looked at their new companion that they found.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As they left the sand pit area, everyone introduced themselves to each other. The man that Hikari had saved called himself Aladdin while his pet monkey was named Abu.

Sora told them about how they rescued him while he was knocked out.

"I see, thanks you guys" Aladdin said.

"Aladdin, what're you doing out here?" Hikari asked.

She found it odd that a man would want to be stuck out in the middle of the desert.

Aladdin just grinned.

"Same old stuff. Hunting legendary treasure" he said.

"Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders"

The magic carpet that they were riding on before landed next to them.

"I found that magic carpet, and this lamp"

Aladdin pulled out the lamp that he had used before to get rid of the heartless.

"Legend has it that whoever holds the lamp can summon the –"

The blue man that was in the lamp suddenly interrupted him.

"Please, kid, leave the intros to the professional. The one and only GENIE OF THE LAMP!" Genie cried.

"Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted!"

He went behind Aladdin and patted him on the arms.

"Today's winner is…Aladdin! Congratulations!"

Donald looked intrigued by the idea of a Genie granting wishes.

"Any wish?"

Hikari rolled her eyes.

She figured he would want to wish where to find his king.

"_Then again, I would wish to find out where Riku went" _She thought.

"Patience, my fine, feathered friend" Genie said.

"I can grant any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish, a three wish. Then I make a banana and split!"

Hikari giggled, she thought Genie was funny.

"Our lucky winner made his first wish"

"And let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was" he whispered to Sora.

"So he has two wishes left! So master, what'll you have for wish number two?"

Aladdin thought about it for a moment.

"Hmmm, how about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?" he asked.

"Ooooh! Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?" Genie asked.

"Okay, you asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold! Just say the word and I'll deliver it in 30 minutes or less, or your meal is free! Hey, I'll even throw in a cappuccino!"

Aladdin laughed while he waved his hands.

"No, thanks"

Genie shrugged.

"Okay"

Hikari snickered at the whole scene. It was like watching a comedy pair.

"I think I'll put that on hold until we reach Agrabah" Aladdin said.

"Why do you want to be a prince?" Goofy asked.

Aladdin blushed slightly as he rubbed his head.

"You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine" He said.

"But she's a princess, and I'm…aw, she could never fall for a guy like me"

Hikari felt bad for him. She had heard this kind of scenario hundreds of times in the fairy tales that she heard when she was a kid.

A poor peasant man falls in love with a princess and he thinks that the princess won't love her because he's broke, but in truth the princess doesn't care about that at all and loves the man for who he is and not for his status.

She always thought those stories were romantic.

She suddenly remembered Aladdin saying Jasmine's name. They had met a princess named Jasmine before they headed for the desert. The same princess who was trying to get away from Jafar.

"_Uh oh!"_

"Uh, Princess?" Donald asked.

"Jasmine?" Goofy added

It seemed like everyone else realized the scenario as well.

"Oh! That's right! She's in trouble, Aladdin!" Sora cried.

Aladdin was surprised.

"What?! Well, come on! Let's get going!"

They got on the magic carpet and flew off to Agrabah.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The rid to Agrabah was a lot better than the rid to rescue Aladdin. Since he was with the group now, he was able to control the carpet better.

Hikari enjoyed the breeze that blew through her face. It reminded her of the islands and how the wind would blow across the ocean. It almost made her homesick.

Genie flew next to them and sighed as he felt the fresh air.

"Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors!" he said.

"I guess you don't get out much, huh?" Sora said.

"Comes with the job" Genie said.

"Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two"

Hikari felt bad for him. That had to suck.

"Say, Genie. What if I use my last wish to free you from that lamp?" Aladdin asked.

"What do you think?"

Genie was surprised.

"You'd do that?" he asked.

Aladdin nodded.

"Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine"

They headed back to Agrabah to rescue Jasmine.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When they returned to Agrabah, the noticed that the main entryways were blocked up by crates.

"How are we supposed to get through the city?" Sora asked.

"Just follow me. I know how to get through this city thanks to living out on the streets" Aladdin said.

They followed him through the secret path ways that were throughout Agrabah.

They ran into a couple of fat bandits and bandit heartless. Since they had Aladdin in their group, that made things a lot easier for them. He would take care of the bandits with Sora and Goofy's help while Hikari and Donald took care of the fat bandits. They were built a lot tougher, so physically fighting them was a challenge. Luckily, they were weak against magical attacks, so that's where Hikari and Donald's expertise would come in. These bandits seemed to like spewing fire out of their mouths. Since they gave away their strength, they knew what its weakness was. They would cast blizzard on them and freeze them in place. Donald would cast blizzard on a few and Hikari would hack them away while they were covered in ice. The fatty beings would break into chunks of ice.

They seemed to work well when they were fighting together. But they still needed to work on getting along better when they were traveling.

They continued to follow Aladdin and ran into more heartless. Not only were they a hassle, but so were the spider pots. It seemed like there were more of these little pests than last time.

This gave Hikari a bad feeling.

They continued to walk through the city and tried to find ways to get to the palace gates. They figured that since Jasmine was a princess, then she would be near the palace.

They had to climb up a few buildings to get towards the palace. The gates leading towards it were always closed, so no commoner would be able to enter. But since Aladdin knew every secret passageway in Agrabah, he was able to get them there in no time.

"Wow, Aladdin. You know this city like it was the back of your hand" Sora said.

"It's one of the upsides to being a street rat" Aladdin replied.

They went through an opening in the wall that they were next to and found themselves within the palace entrance.

They stood on one of the roofs and looked down to see Jasmine with Jafar next to her.

"There's that guy with the rat tail for a beard" Hikari said.

Sora shushed her so they wouldn't be heard.

"Looks like that Jafar guy is trying to kidnap Jasmine" Sora whispered.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's rescue her!" Aladdin urged.

They all jumped off the roof and landed in front of Jafar and Jasmine.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Jafar sneered when he saw the keyblade bearers and Aladdin.

"Setting your sights a little high, aren't you boy?"

Jafar stood before them looking regal as ever.

"Back to your hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore"

"Jasmine!" Aladdin cried.

The princess tried to run to him, but Jafar held her back.

"I'm so sorry, Aladdin"

Aladdin held Genie's lamp behind him and rubbed it.

"Genie, help Jasmine. Please!"

Genie suddenly appeared behind Jafar and held Jasmine in the air.

"One wish left. You're making this really easy, you know" Genie said.

Jafar laughed evilly.

"So sorry, boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied"

Iago went up to Jafar and handed him Genie's lamp.

Aladdin looked at his hand to see that the lamp was gone.

"Huh?!"

Jafar held the lamp in his hand, becoming Genie's mater.

Genie's head slumped.

"I'm sorry Al"

He disappeared back into the lamp, dropping Jasmine into a pot.

Jafar waved his hand and brought forth the head and tail to the pot centipede heartless.

"And know, I bid you all farewell. Attack!"

He disappeared and left them with them at the mercy of the centipede heartless.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Now Hikari understood why she had a bad feeling about the spider pots from before. They made up the body for the pot centipede. Something told her that if the pots became the body, then they were in big trouble.

While the pots were gathering around the head and tail to form the body, she jumped into the group and started hitting the pots. Some of them broke while others just pushed her away. She almost got trampled at one point, but Sora pulled her out before that could happen.

"Don't let the pots connect with each other!" she said.

"The heartless won't be able to fight properly if it doesn't have a body"

Sora nodded and warned the others.

Aladdin was more concerned of looking through the pots than attacking them. Since Jasmine feel in one of them, he didn't know where she was at.

Everyone made sure to stay away from the head as they were fighting. Whenever they got rid of the group of pots it was going to use for its body, it would zap them with its antennas before ramming its head into a pile of crates that blocked the pathways through the city.

They ran after it when it tried to summon up more spider pots for its body.

Goofy rammed into the pots when it started to become the centipede's body.

It wasn't so bad fighting, but it was a long task. They had to make sure every single spider pot was gone before they could attack the heartless. They focused more on the tail since it really didn't attack like the head did.

When the tail was gone, they went for the head. They kept getting zapped by its antennas so Hikari cast Aero so they wouldn't seriously get hurt.

Sora landed the finishing blow to the heartless and set its captive heart free.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Aladdin looked around the area when the heartless was gone.

"Jasmine!"

They could hear Jafar's laughter throughout the city.

Aladdin had an idea of where he went.

"To the desert! Come on, let's move!"

They ran through the city and headed back for the desert thanks to Aladdin's carpet.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They arrived back to the spot where they had first found Aladdin.

"Why are we here?" Hikari asked.

"This is the entrance to the Cave of Wonders" Aladdin said.

"Cave? All I see is sand" Donald said.

Just then, the ground started to rumble underneath them.

"What's going on?" Goofy asked.

The sand started to rise and take the shape of a tiger's head.

"This is the Cave of Wonders" Aladdin

They waited for the head settle before they went to enter. When they got close to it, the head snapped its mouth at them.

"What the?!" Sora cried

They noticed that the tiger's eyes were glowing ominously.

Hikari examined them a bit more.

"What's up with its eyes?"

"_The tiger is being controlled by the heartless!" _The voice said in her head.

"_Crush the power of darkness!"_

Hikari didn't know what to do, but she had a feeling that she had to fight this thing.

She pulled out her keyblade.

"Looks like we have to do some more fighting" she said to her friends.

"Hope you're all ready for this"

The tiger shook its head and shot out beams of light through its eyes.

Everyone had to jump out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by them. They had learned their lesson after fighting the heartless chameleon in Deep Jungle.

When the tiger lowered its head to bring up some heartless, Sora and Hikari jumped on its nose and attacked the eyes. When it reared its head back, they held on tightly to the ears and attacked whenever they got the chance to.

After a few minutes of fighting, they were able to bring the tiger back to its sense and calmed it down.

They were able to enter the Cave of Wonders and continue their search for Jafar.

The whole place was rigged with traps so they had to be careful where they stepped. If the traps didn't get them, the heartless sure did.

"Where do you think Jafar went?" Sora asked

"Probably the treasure room" Aladdin said.

"That's where all of the good stuff is"

"Then lead the way. You've been here before, so you should know where the treasure room is" Hikari said.

They carefully went for the treasure room with Aladdin leading the way.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The treasure room was something Hikari had never seen before. Gold piled up in mountains all over the place and were pouring to the ground like waterfalls. Gems were stuck to the walls to make intricate designs and glittered in the fire light to make rainbows. It was all too beautiful.

Donald was drooling over the sight. He had never seen so much gold.

"This place is amazing" Hikari breathed. She walked around and admired the area.

"I've never seen so much gold or gems in my entire life"

She looked at the piles of gold and noticed a piece of paper sticking out.

"Huh? What's this?"

She pulled it out, thinking that it might be a treasure map of some kind.

She examined it a bit and noticed that one of the sides were torn and that there were pictures on the page.

"This looks like a page from a story book"

A light bulb went off in her head and she realized that this was a page from the book in Merlin's home.

She looked around to make sure everyone wasn't looking at her before stashing the page in her pocket.

"I better keep a hold of this"

"Is this all there is to the treasure room?" Sora asked.

"There should be another room that you could enter through here" Aladdin.

They looked around the room and noticed that a pillar was blocking the entrance. It almost looked like it was connected to something from underground.

"I think the only way we can lower this is to go down to the lower level of the cave" Aladdin said.

The thought of going to the lower levels of the cave didn't really settle well with Hikari. She just knew that this place was going to be dark and she didn't to have any of it. She was beyond terrified of the dark and she hated being in it. She never knew what lay within that abyss and she never knew when something would attack her.

But when she looked at Donald, she remembered the deal that they made. If she wanted Donald to ease up, then she would have to suck it up and be the keyblade bearer that she was.

"Alright, let's get going" Hikari said.

"The sooner we get rid of this pillar, the sooner we can rescue Jasmine"

They left the treasure room and headed back towards the entrance of the cave. Aladdin went to a ledge and looked down.

"The pillar should be down here" he said.

Hikari looked down to see that it was pitched black.

She resisted the urge to shudder when she saw the dark.

"_You can do this Hikari. Just remember that this will help save Jasmine, so suck it up. You're a keyblade _

She gulped slightly and stepped a little closer to the edge.

Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and jumped down to the cavern below.

"_Just remember, this can't be so bad" _she thought.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"_Ok, scratch that. This is SO bad!"_

Not only was this place pitch black and she could hardly see her hand, but the area was pretty much surrounded by water and it was freezing cold.

She didn't know if she was shivering from the cold or if it was her fear of the dark.

"You ok, Hikari?" Goofy asked.

She nodded while her teeth chattered.

"I-I'm fine. T-the water's a l-little cold. N-nothing's wrong"

Sora knew that she was lying and that it was because she was afraid of the dark. She was used to swimming in any type of water, including the cold.

"Swim close to me" he said.

She nodded her head and swam with him.

They had to be really careful as they swam. Since they really couldn't see anything, they had to swim slowly so they wouldn't bump into anything.

They were able to reach a few ledges that lead them to other parts of the cavern as well as go down a few waterfalls.

When they reached the area that they felt was underneath the treasure room, they began searching for a pillar.

"You guys see anything?" Sora asked.

Donald cast a minor fire spell to light up the area.

He spotted the pillar a little ways off.

"Found it"

They looked at the pillar to see one of the slabs that made it was a little off and crumbling.

"It almost looks like someone stuck it in there recently" Hikari said.

"It was probably Jafar" Aladdin said.

Sora broke the slab with his keyblade and had the whole thing come down and opening up the path way in the treasure room.

"Alright, now let's head back for the treasure room" Hikari said.

"_And to get out of this dark cavern" _she thought.

They swam back to the main entrance of the cavern where there was a set of stairs that would lead them back to the upper level of the cave.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile, Jafar was in the cavern of the treasure room with an unconscious Jasmine by his feet. Genie looked upset that he had to serve Jafar now.

The evil vizier held up his lamp.

"My first wish, Genie! Show me the keyhole!"

Genie just glared at him, but obliged.

He snapped his fingers and revealed the keyhole that was hidden within the wall of the cave.

Jafar laughed wickedly at the sight of the keyhole.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The heroes finally made it back to the treasure room. They ran into a few casualties, like Goofy bumping into one of the traps and nearly fell back into the cavern, and they had to fight a few heartless, but other than that, they were fine.

"Let's stop Jafar once and for all" Sora said.

They walked into the lamp chamber that was now open and went to settle the score with the evil vizier.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back in the lamp chamber, Maleficent stood before Jafar. He had told her about what had happened and how it took him forever to find Jasmine and the keyhole.

"Those children again?" she asked.

She figured that they were bound to arrive here to find the keyhole. She just didn't think it would be so soon.

"They're more persistent than I expected" Jafar said.

"Why not explain the situation to that boy Riku? I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see the girl. Doing so may actually prove useful to our-"

He was interrupted by Sora and Hikari entering the chamber.

Hikari locked eyes with Maleficent and nearly gasped.

She looked the same as she did in her memory.

"Maleficent!"

The evil sorceress grinned evilly at her before disappearing.

Aladdin came forth and faced Jafar.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!"

"Not a chance" Jafar said.

"You see, she's a princess- one of eight who somehow hold the key into opening the door"

"Open…" Goofy said.

"…the door?" Donald finished.

Hikari pondered over this for a moment. Could this door be connected to the one that she saw in her memory? The same one that her mother was angry over?

"But you fools won't live to see what lies beyond it" Jafar said.

"Genie! My second wish: Crush them!"

Aladdin panicked when Genie moved forward.

"Genie, no!"

"Sorry, Al" Genie said sadly.

"The one with the lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice"

Jafar raised his scepter and placed a barrier over the keyhole and the entrance to the lamp chamber so they wouldn't escape.

Hikari and Sora pulled out their keyblades.

They didn't want to hurt Genie, so they decided to attack Jafar. If they attacked Genie's master, then the wish would be canceled.

Jafar floated up in the air as he chanted a spell.

Hikari ran away from Genie as he launched his attacks at everyone. She didn't know what she was doing, but she felt that she had to face Jafar. She one of the best magic users in their group, so she felt like she could handle him.

"_Besides, mom was a very powerful mage, so maybe I'm one too"_

She put her everything into her attacks. She countered each of Jafar's spells with her own. Whenever he would cast fire, she would cast blizzard. When he tried to zap her with a beam from his scepter, she used Aero to absorb the attack so it wouldn't hurt as much.

She couldn't really attack him since she had to dodge his attacks as well as Genie's. She almost got hit by him when he came by and started spinning like a top, hitting anyone that came into his path.

When she tried to hit Jafar again, he turned into a cloud of smoke and floated away from her and returned to normal when he was away from her.

She couldn't afford to let him get away. This was her moment to shine and she wasn't going to let her friends down. She couldn't let them always take care over everything.

She ran across the room and held her keyblade out in front of her and aimed it for Jafar's chest.

When he landed on the platform to where the keyhole was, she jumped up and rammed her keyblade into his chest.

Jafar let out a strangled cry as he was struck down.

Genie's was broken off and he stopped attacking everyone.

Hikari's blizzard spell was even upgraded.

She turned to Sora.

"Sora! The keyhole!"

He ran up to the platform and aimed his keyblade at the keyhole. Hikari was about to do the same, but she was interrupted when Jafar spoke.

"Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all- powerful genie!"

Genie gulped and covered his eyes with his hand. His other hand shook as he pointed at Jafar and zapped him with his magic.

Jafar's body glowed with the magic. The ground surrounding him suddenly collapsed and revealed another room underneath. Jafar floated down to the chamber.

Aladdin went to Jasmine's unconscious body.

"Jasmine!"

Hikari examined her.

"She's just unconscious. We'll take care of her once we get rid of Jafar"

They went to the ledge of the platform and looked down. They could see lava flowing around a set of platforms that were above the hot liquid.

"I hope no one is afraid to get a little burned" Goofy said.

They all jumped down and landed on the platform.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The area was really hot when they landed on the platforms. The heat coming from the lava was making their skin burn and causing them to sweat. The barrier that Hikari's charm made suddenly kicked in and she felt herself getting cooler.

"_Well. This helps me out. Now I don't have to worry about getting burnt"_

Sora looked around the cavern.

"Where's Jafar?"

The lava suddenly burst up into the air and revealed a genie version of Jafar.

He laughed wickedly as he looked at them.

Iago flew by holding Jafar's lamp.

Hikari suddenly remembered Genie saying something about being tied to his lamp.

"_Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space"_

She turned to her friends.

"Guys! Get Jafar's lamp!"

They looked at her confused.

"Remember what Genie said about him being tied to his lamp? Since Jafar is a Genie now, then that means he's tied to his lamp too. We need to get it so we can send him back into the lamp"

They all nodded at the idea.

Jafar held up a giant ball of lava in his hands.

"Look out!"

They all jumped out of the way as he threw it at them.

Hikari looked up to see Iago flying over her head.

"Get back here, you stupid bird!"

She jumped up and started hitting the parrot so he would drop the lamp. The bird appeared to be a lot stronger than he looked because he wouldn't let go, even when she hit him.

Hikari went to hit him again, but she got caught in the crossfire of Jafar's attack. She didn't get hit directly with his fire ball, but she got grazed by it when it hit the platform. Her back burned from the heat of the lava. If she didn't have her barrier up, she would have suffered worse.

"Hikari!" Sora cried.

Hikari just shook her head as she gritted her teeth.

"This is nothing" she said.

"Just try to get that lamp!"

She healed herself quickly and went back into the fray. She cast Aero on herself to strengthen her barrier even more.

"Let's see you try to get me with this" she said to herself.

She jumped up the platforms and got to the highest one there was.

She was right in front of Iago as he flew towards her. He was too distracted by Sora and Aladdin attacking him that he didn't notice what Hikari was about to do.

Putting he keyblade away, she positioned herself on the ledge and put all her weight into her legs.

"This better work"

She jumped off the ledge and soared through the air. When she was within reach of Iago, she threw her arms out and wrapped her fingers around the black lamp.

"Got ya!"

She held onto the lamp tightly and quickly flipped through the air so she could land on her feet.

"Sora! Catch!"

She threw the lamp at him and cheered when he caught it.

Sora held the lamp up and pointed it at Jafar.

"Okay, Jafar! Back to your lamp!"

Jafar screamed when he felt himself being pulled into the lamp.

"NOOOOOO!!!!"

He was sucked right up into his portable prison.

"You know what they say: be careful what you wish for" Hikari said.

A piece a paper floated through the air and landed into Hikari's face.

She pulled it off and looked at it.

"What is this?"

When she read the first few letters, her eyes went wide.

"It's a page to Ansem's report!"

The area shook slightly.

"Let's seal the keyhole and get out of here!"Donald cried.

They all got on Aladdin's carpet and headed back to the upper level.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

While this was all happening, Jasmine had finally regained conciseness.

She peered over the side of the ledge that she was on to see down below.

She feared for Aladdin's safety.

Just then she heard footsteps behind her.

When she turned around to see who it was, everything went black.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The magic carpet dropped Sora, Hikari and Aladdin to the keyhole.

Aladdin searched the area when he couldn't find Jasmine.

"Jasmine? Jasmine!"

Sora and Hikari aimed their keyblades at the keyhole and sealed up Agrabah.

"_Now the light of this world is saved from darkness" _Hikari thought.

The area started to shake after the keyhole was sealed.

"Whoa. We better get out of here!" Goofy cried.

They all got on the carpet as the ceiling started to collapse.

Sora and Hikari had to practically drag Aladdin on the rug.

"Jasmine!"

The carpet flew off just as the ceiling caved in.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was a race against the clock as they flew. They had to get out of the Cave of Wonders before in submerged back into the sand.

Sora was steering the carpet as they flew, which was a bad idea. He didn't know how to driving anything so they were afraid that he would crash them into something. But since Aladdin was upset over Jasmine, they couldn't have him steer.

Hikari held onto her side of the carpet for dear life. Every time Sora made a sharp turn to avoid getting hit by a loose rock, she would slip and had to cling to the edge.

"Hey! Go easy will you! I don't want to fall off!"

"Try telling me that when we aren't flying for our lives!" Sora retorted.

They flew past an area that was filled with lava.

When a geyser of lava suddenly shot up, Sora jerked out of the way a little too quickly for everyone's comfort.

Hikari lost he grip on the rug and she felt herself falling.

She screamed when she felt herself falling off the rug.

"Hikari!"

Donald grabbed onto her hand before she could fully fall off the carpet and was just dangling in the air.

"Help!" she screamed.

She had to lift her legs up to avoid getting hit by the lava.

Donald put all of his strength into pulling her up.

"Don't worry. I won't let go!"

He held onto her hand tightly and managed to pull her back up on the carpet.

Hikari had tears in her eyes as she looked at Donald. She really thought that she was going to die, but Donald saved her. She never realized that he would care so much.

She hugged him tightly as they flew.

"Thank you!"

She sobbed quietly as they reached the exit. Donald just patted her back and let her cry. He did say he would be more easy going, so why not start now?

They flew out of the Cave of Wonders just as it was about to collapse.

They all cheered as they headed back for Agrabah.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They all went to Aladdin's house when they returned.

Sora had explained to Aladdin that Jasmine was no longer on this world, much to Donald's annoyance. They weren't supposed to tell about the other worlds, but Sora felt bad for Aladdin.

"So, Jasmine's no longer on Agrabah" Aladdin said sadly.

He stood up and looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Sora, Hikari. Let's go find her"

The keyblade wielders looked at each other uneasily.

Sora had a black eye from Hikari punching him for nearly throwing her off the carpet.

"Sorry. But we can't take you with us" Sora said sadly.

Aladdin looked hurt.

"Wh-why not?"

"I sure wish we could…" Goofy said.

"But we can't" Donald said.

"If we take him to another world, we would be…"

"Muh…Mudd-" Goofy tried to say.

"Meddling" Donald corrected him.

Hikari grabbed Aladdin's hands and squeezed them.

"We'll find Jasmine. We promise"

She gave him an encouraging smile.

Genie suddenly appeared and patted Aladdin on the back.

"Uh, earth to Al. Hello? You still have one wish left." He reminded him.

"Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you. "

Aladdin thought for a moment over it. It was true that he still had one wish left.

He looked up sadly.

"I…I wish…for your freedom, Genie!"

Genie looked surprised.

"Al!"

The magical spell that binded him to the lamp broke. He no longer wore the metal cufflings on his arms and instead of having a tail, he had a pair of feet.

Aladdin smirked.

"A deal's a deal, Genie" he said.

"Now you can go anywhere you want. You're your own master now"

Hikari smirked.

So he didn't forget his promise after all.

"_A loyal friend till the end"_

Aladdin looked at Sora and his group.

"But, if you can, it would be great if you could go along with them and help Sora and Hikari find Jasmine"

Genie thought for a moment.

"Sorry , Al. I'm done taking orders from others"

Aladdin looked down sadly.

Genie smirked.

"But… A favor, now that's entirely different. I guess I could give that a try"

He placed his arm around Aladdin's shoulder.

"After all, we're pals, right, Al?"

"Genie" Aladdin said quietly.

"Just leave it to me!"

Aladdin smiled at that.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back at the Villain's Vale, Maleficent, Hades and Riku watched over a looking mirror. They had all seen what had happened to Jafar.

"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em" Hades said as he looked at Riku.

"If someone had stuck around to give him a hand"

Riku didn't seem phased

"Hey, I did my part. I brought the princess , didn't I?" he asked.

"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred" Maleficent said.

"One should beware of letting it burn to fiercely"

Hades waved his hands in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, ok?"

He turned to Riku.

"By the way, kid, have we got something special for you"

Riku looked at Maleficent.

"We had a deal, yes?" she asked.

"You help us and we grant your wish"

An image of Kairi appeared on the mirror.

"Kairi!" Riku cried.

"Go to her. Your vessel is waiting"

Captain Hook appeared before them.

"Just remember, this is no pleasure cruise" he said as he held up his hook for a hand.

"It won't be a pleasant voyage"

Riku looked at Maleficent.

"Why are you doing this for me? What's the catch?"

Maleficent tried to appear innocent.

"Catch? What's the catch?"

She went up to him and held his face with her hand.

"Silly boy. You're like a son to me. I only want to be happy"

Riku looked disgusted as he swatted her hand away.

"I seriously doubt that" he said.

"Besides, it'll take a lot more than this to make me happy"

Maleficent smirked evilly, knowing that it was Hikari that he was talking about.

"Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain"

Riku just looked at her darkly before walking off.

Maleficent just smirked, knowing that her plans were going accordingly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back in Agrabah, everyone bid their farewells to Aladdin.

"Here, take this with you"

He handed Sora Genie's lamp so he could summon him whenever he needed help.

"Please find Jasmine for me" Aladdin said to them.

Sora nodded.

Hikari went up to Aladdin and patted him on the shoulder.

"Just remember, Aladdin. You don't have to be a prince to win Jasmine's heart. From what I've seen, she cares about you for who you are, not because of your status"

She grinned.

"Take it from a girl's perspective. We aren't looking for guys who have a nice face or are filthy rich. We want someone who loves us with their whole heart and would do anything for us. That's the kind of guy that we want. And you my friend fit that category perfectly"

Aladdin smiled at her.

"Thanks Hikari"

"Anytime. Now don't be down in the dumps. We'll bring Jasmine back and she'll be in your arms in no time. But until then, keep your spirits high"

With that, they all said goodbye and went back to their gummi ship.

As they walked, Hikari looked at Donald.

"By the way, thanks again for saving me in the cave of wonders. I didn't know you cared"

Donald looked flustered at the compliment.

"Ah, phooey. I just didn't want to lose one of the keyblade masters. Our king told us to look after you, so that's what I was doing"

Hikari smirk, seeing right through his excuse.

"Uh-huh, sure"

Sora looked at Donald.

"Hey, can I drive the ship?"

Donald glared.

"Not on your life!"

Everyone looked at him.

"Don't forget our promise" Hikari said.

"I've been keeping my end of our deal so far"

Donald sighed with annoyance.

"At least not by yourself. I will be supervising"

Sora cheered and ran to the ship.

Hikari smirked at Donald.

"Thank you"

She gave him a hug.

Donald just waved her off.

"Yeah, yeah"

They got on the Gummi ship and started it up.

"Now Sora. I want you to take it easy" Donald said.

"And don't crash into anything"

Sora didn't really pay attention and just zipped off of Agrabah and into space.

Everyone was holding on tightly while Donald was screaming at Sora.

Hikari just laughed at the whole thing. At least now she was getting along better with Donald.

She wondered what adventures were awaiting for them next.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: And there you have it. This is probably the longest chapter I've written so far for the story (I don't really know anymore, they're all so long). So Hikari and Donald are getting along now, that's good. I wonder what Riku is going to do about Kairi? Does he care about her, or does he care about Hikari? You'll just have to find out.**

**Remember to send me your answers to the question up top and please send me a review.**

**I hope this makes up from my absence, but hey, finals are really important.**

**See you until next time!**

**Ja ne!**


	15. Monstro

Chapter 15: Monstro

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm happy to say that I passed all of my finals and I want to share my good mood by updating another chapter!**

**I'm sure you all know what's going to happen on this 'world' will it be a happy reunion for Hikari, or will it leave her heart broken?**

**Here's another poll for you: Do you think Riku loves Hikari or Kairi?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I do own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari was staring at the page of Ansem's report that she got from Agrabah. While Donald was teaching Sora how to drive the gummi ship, she figured she would crack the clue as to why the heartless were created.

It was hard to read the fancy cursive, but she managed to decipherer it after a few tries.

Goofy looked at her as she tried to read the report.

"Did you manage to crack that report, Hikari?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah. It seemed liked this Ansem guy really liked to use cursive. It's so fancy, that some of the words are hard to read"

"What does it say?" Donald asked.

So far, he was keeping his promise to lighten up. Since Hikari found one of the reports and was taking her role as a keyblade mistress seriously, then he was going to follow his end of the deal.

Hikari read out loud what the page had to offer:

"_Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge._

_That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that._

_I am blessed with the people's smiles and respect. But thought I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. _

_I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times._

_Darkness…Darkness of the heart. How is it born? _

_How does it come to affect us so?_

_As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost those taken by the darkness"_

Hikari looked it over.

"I wonder what this meant?" she asked.

"Maybe this Ansem fella was trying to find out why the heartless were created" Goofy suggested.

Hikari shook her head.

From the way that Ansem had written this report, the heartless weren't that big of a threat, or rather, they never existed yet.

She flipped the page over to see that there was more written.

"Hey, there's more to this"

"Well, read it" Donald said.

(A/N: I'm going to combine some of the reports to save me some time. Plus I also forgot when and where I got halve of the reports so this will make it easier for me. Enjoy!)

She read the second entry of the report.

"_It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:_

_. Extract the darkness from a person's heart._

_.Cultivate darkness in a pure heart._

_.Both suppress and amplify darkness within._

_The experiments caused the test subject's hearts to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle._

_Sometime later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness…What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?"_

"Sounds like that's when the heartless were created" Sora said.

"That's kind of creepy how they were created" Donald said.

"Almost sounds like Frankenstein"

Hikari reread the report. It mentioned something about a castle.

"_Could this be the same castle from my memories?" _she thought.

"_Is that the reason why mom didn't want Leon and I go near there? Because that's where the heartless were created?"_

That did make some sense. If heartless were being created in a creepy old castle, then why go there?.

"_I guess mom really wanted to protect us"_

"Hey, Hikari. We're headed to Traverse Town to get some supplies" Sora said.

"You should show that report to Leon and ask what he knows about it"

Hikari liked that idea. She wanted to see her brother really badly.

"Sounds like a plan" she said.

Sora steered them back to Traverse Town and almost hit a meteor along the way.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari was thrilled when they landed.

She felt like she was returning back from a long voyage.

"_My home away from home" _She thought.

She followed the guys into the item shop to get some supplies.

She was in dire need of potions and ethers. Fighting Heartless and bosses was no walk in the park.

But fighting them did pay off. Thanks to her heartless slaying, she had a huge amount of Munny stashed up.

She pretty much bought out the whole store with all of the items she got.

"Aren't over doing it a bit, Hikari?" Sora asked.

Hikari gave him a sheepish grin.

"What are you talking about? This load is light to what I had in mind"

She paid for her stuff and went to walk out of the room, when something on the floor caught her eye.

"Huh?"

She turned around and saw what appeared to be a boy crouching on the ground.

"Who are you?"

Just then, Jiminy Cricket popped up out of nowhere.

"Well, well, as I live and breathe! If it isn't Pinocchio!"

He jumped off of Sora's shoulder and landed in front of the boy.

As Pinocchio lifted his head, Hikari noted that he wasn't actually a real boy, but rather a puppet.

Pinocchio's face lit up when he saw Jiminy.

"Oh. Hi, Jiminy"

Jiminy looked at him for a moment.

"What in the world are you doing down here?" he asked.

Pinocchio thought for a moment.

"Um…playing hide-and-seek" The puppet replied.

Jiminy started walking in circled.

"I just don't believe it. And here I was, up all night, just worried sick about you" the cricket said.

"Why of all the-"

He stopped his ranting when he saw that Pinocchio's nose had grown a few inches.

"What in the world?" Hikari said.

"Pinocchio, are you telling me the truth?" Jiminy asked.

"Yes"

"Then tell me, what is this?"

The cricket pointed to an item box that was next to the boy.

"It was a present" the puppet said.

"No fibbing now" Jiminy warned.

"You know you're not suppose to tell lies. A lie only grows and grows, 'till you get caught. Plain as the nose on your face"

"But if you want something, why wait?" Pinocchio asked.

"Why not just take it?"

Jiminy looked horrified.

"Oh my! Who told you that?" he asked.

"You need some advice from your conscience"

Pinocchio smiled.

"That's right. You're my conscience, Jiminy! I'll never tell a lie as long as you're around "

His nose shrunk back to its original size.

"You need to be good so you can become a real boy" Jiminy reminded him.

"You promised Geppetto you would be, right?"

Pinocchio nodded.

"Oh! Do you know where father is?" he asked.

"He's not with you?" Jiminy asked.

This reminded Hikari of when she and Leon came to Traverse Town and their mother never came.

"Jiminy, let's go find father!" Pinocchio said.

"Now hold on!" Jiminy said.

"There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll find Geppetto, so you just wait here"

He turned to Hikari and the others.

"These fellows here will be helping me"

"We will?" Sora asked.

Jiminy nodded.

"Well, shall we go, Sora?"

"You could have asked us first" Sora said.

Hikari elbowed him in the side.

"Be nice, Sora. This little boy needs his dad. It's too dangerous for him to be here all by himself"

She knelt down to Pinocchio's level.

"Don't worry, we'll find your dad. But in the mean time, just stay here. There are bad monsters out there, and it would break my heart if they gobbled up such a cute little boy like you"

Pinocchio smiled and nodded.

"Ok"

She stood up and looked at her friends.

"As soon as I talk to my brother, then we can leave. You guys go gather more supplies while I go find him"

"Will you be fine by yourself?" Goofy asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I know this place well. Besides, I'm a keyblade master. A bunch of wimpy heartless won't kill me"

She waved at them when she left the store.

"Now to see my big brother. I hope he's happy to see me"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Instead of walking through the districts, she decided to take some shortcuts that connected to each district.

She didn't feel like fighting some heartless and using up her potions. She wanted to save those for when they went to their next world and had to fight more dangerous heartless.

She when through the Dalmatians house to give her some time. As she walked though the house, she managed to grab another missing page from Merlin's book.

(A/N: I'm skipping through finding the puppies. It was a pain to get them all and I'm sure everyone would agree with me. Instead, we'll just say that she found it in the house instead of getting it after returning 51 of the puppies)

"Well, that's another page retrieved. I'll return them to Merlin when I have all of the pages"

She went into the third district and headed for the small.

"Hopefully, Ni-san is still there"

She looked through the window and saw the whole gang was there.

She smiled and quickly went inside.

"Ni-san!"

Leon looked surprised when he saw Hikari run into the room. She ran up to him and gave him a big hug, which he returned equally.

"Hikari? What are you doing here?"

She smiled up at her brother.

"We just came into town to grab a few supplies" She said.

"I also wanted to show you this"

She pulled out the page to Ansem's report and handed it to him.

"We managed to find part of Ansem's report"

"Way to go, Hikari" Mikomi said.

"I should have known you would find part of it"

"Now we can understand what Ansem was trying to do" Aerith said.

Leon read through the report quickly.

"So that explains how the heartless came to be" he said.

He held the bridge of his nose.

"I can't believe mom was involved with this"

Hikari's blood ran cold. Her mother was in on the creation of the heartless?

"Mom helped create the heartless?" she asked uneasily.

Leon shook his head.

"She wasn't in on the experiment entirely" he said.

"She was just used in the beginning of it. Ansem knew that she was really skilled when it came to magic, so he wanted her to help. She didn't want any part of it. She said that these experiments would disrupt the balance in everything. She didn't like the fact that darkness existed in every heart, but she said that, that was just one of the things in life that we can't change. No matter how much we wish we didn't want it, there was no way to get rid of it. 'You can't have light without darkness'.

Hikari looked at the ground.

Was that the reason why she was mad at that man in her memories? Was it because he was doing experiments that were best left undone?

She looked up at Leon.

"Ni-san, do you remember a castle mom took us to when we were little and told us to never go there?"

He nodded.

"Was it because that the heartless were being created there?"

He nodded again.

"Even though she wasn't in on the experiments, she knew what it doing to Ansem's test subjects. She started seeing Heartless coming out of the castle and knew that it wasn't good. She told us to stay away from it so we wouldn't end up like them"

Hikari held her pendant.

So her mom was trying to protect her.

"_What a great mom" _she thought.

She suddenly remembered the man from her mother's memories. She decided whether or not to ask her brother who it was.

She looked at him and saw that he was stressed out a bit. She guessed reading Ansem's report was too much for him.

"_I won't tell him" _she thought.

"_Besides, I can't just see him so he can give me answers. I need to do that on my own. I won't be able to have everyone helping me on this journey. I need to figure things out on my own"_

Leon noticed the look on her face.

"Something on your mind?"

She shook her head and smiled.

"No, I was just thinking about Ansem's report. I wonder if I'll find the rest of it"

"I'm sure you will" Mikomi said.

"You found part of it already, who's to say that you won't find the rest? We have faith in you"

Hikari smiled at that.

"Thanks"

She hugged her brother.

"I should get going. Sora and the others are probably waiting for me. Can't keep them waiting. We have keyholes to seal up after all"

Leon hugged her tightly.

"You be careful, ok?" he said.

"And make sure you stay out of danger"

"Yeah, Leon is such a worry wart when it comes to you" Yuffie said.

"He's always wondering if you're safe or if you have enough potions to keep you alive"

Leon glared at her.

"Quiet"

Mikomi waved him off.

"Please. It just shows how much you care about your baby sister. I know my brother acts the same way about me"

She touched her brother's necklace.

Hikari smiled at the others and waved.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to stop by more often"

She walked out of the house and ran back to the first district.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After being lectured by Donald for being late, they were back on the ship and sailing for their next world.

Hikari decided to sit next to Sora as he steered the ship. She wanted to know what it was like to sit up front, so she managed to get a seat.

It was a lot cooler seeing everything this way than through a side window.

Sora kept shooting meteors as they got too close to the ship.

"Wow, Sora. You're pretty good"

Sora grinned at that.

She just watched as they kept flying through space.

It started to get pretty boring after a while.

She was about to doze off into slumber land when something appeared in front of the ship.

A giant huge mass was heading for the ship. It wasn't a meteor, it looked too huge to be one.

"What is that?" Donald asked.

"Wow, it's huge!" Sora exclaimed.

Hikari sat up straight in her seat. She didn't like where this was going.

The mass suddenly moved out of the way and revealed its side to them. It was shaped like a giant whale and it swam right over them.

"It's a giant whale!" Goofy cried.

"What the heck is a whale doing out here?" Hikari asked.

Jiminy jumped on the dashboard.

"It's Monstro!" he cried.

"He's a whale of a whale, and vicious besides!"

Monstro suddenly appeared back in front of them.

"Whoa! Sora, get us out of here!" Donald cried.

Monstro opened its mouth as it closed in on them.

"Too late! He's going to swallow us!"

Hikari closed her eyes tightly as they were swallowed up.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_9 years ago:_

"_It's true! I heard it!" Hikari cried._

_She pulled Riku's arm as she lead him across the island._

_She claimed that she had heard a monster within the secret cave._

"_Are you sure you didn't imagine it?" Riku asked._

_Hikari nodded._

_There's a huge monster in there, I swear!" She cried._

"_It sounded big and scary!"_

_Riku grinned._

"_Alright, suppose there really is a monster…do you think I could beat it?"_

_Hikari nodded._

"_There's nothing in this world that you can't beat, Riku"_

_Riku grinned at that._

_They arrived at the mouth of the cave._

"_Listen! Can't you hear it growling?"_

_They stayed quiet so they could listen._

_Hikari whimpered when she heard noises. She held the hem of her dress nervously with one hand and gripped Riku's hand with the other._

_Riku listened a bit more._

"_Come on, let's go in" _

_He gently pulled her along as they went inside the dark cave._

_Hikari clung to him when it got dark._

_He patted her head._

"_There's nothing to fear, Hikari. I'm here"_

_They went into the cave where there was light coming from the ceiling._

_Riku looked around and found no monster. When the noise started up again, he looked up at the opening in the ceiling and found where the noise was coming from._

"_See that? It was just the wind making that noise "_

_Hikari sighed with relief._

"_Good. I was afraid that it was a monster"_

_She looked around the cave and saw a door on one of the walls._

"_What's that over there?"_

_Riku went up to it and examined it._

"_A window or maybe a door? It won't open" he said._

_Hikari looked around the cave._

"_I guess there really isn't much to this creepy cave"_

_Riku went up to her._

"_Hikari"_

_She looked at him._

"_Hm?"_

"_If there really are monsters out there, I'll be there to protect you. I'll make sure nothing harms you"_

_He pointed to himself._

"_I'll be your knight in shining armor"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_Does that make me your princess?"_

_He nodded._

"_Whatever Princess Hikari wants, Princess Hikari will get it"_

_He bowed down to her dramatically._

"_What is it that you wish of your knight?"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_Let's go play!"_

_She held out her hand to him._

"_Come on, Sir Riku"_

_Riku grinned and took her hand._

_They walked out of the cave together._

"_Hey, I think Sora and Kairi said that they had an idea they wanted to tell us"_

_She didn't realize that Riku was looking at the door._

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari groaned when she regained consciences. She was laying on something that felt moist and wet. She could have sworn she felt a pulse as well.

"Knock it off!"

She was roused awake by Donald's shouting.

She sat up and looked around her. They were in what appeared to be some sort of damp cave.

She stood up and noticed that she was standing on something squishy.

Sora woke up too and rubbed his head as he stood.

"You ok?" Hikari asked.

He nodded.

They both spotted Donald and Goofy standing near some platform and were looking up at something. Goofy had his shield over his head like an umbrella.

The dog noticed that they were awake and grinned at them.

"Hey, Sora, Hikari. Are you ok?"

"What are you guys doing?" Hikari asked.

Sora looked around.

"Where are we anyway?"

An item box suddenly fell from the sky. Everyone jumped out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by it.

"Uh, ya know, I think that big, ol' whale Monstro just swallowed us" Goofy said.

Hikari paled at that. She looked at what she was standing on and freaked out when she realized that it was the whale's tongue.

"Oh my god! Gross!"

"And for today's weather: Expect showers" Goofy said.

Something heavy hit his shield and bounced off of it.

"Heavy showers!"

Donald tapped his foot as he looked up at the wooden pillar.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Who's there?"

Pinocchio popped his head into view.

"It's me"

"Oh, it's just Pinocchio" Donald said.

He suddenly realized what he said and did a double take.

"Pinocchio!"

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy asked.

"But he was just in Traverse Town" Hikari said.

"How could he get here?"

Pinocchio carried a huge gummi block with him and walked away.

"Pinocch, where are you going?" Jiminy asked.

"Pinocch!"

When he realized that he wouldn't get a response, he tugged on Sora's shirt.

"Come on, everybody! After him! Quick!"

They spotted the puppet heading for a broken ship near the center of Monstro's mouth.

The only way they would be able to get there is to swim by it. There were beams everywhere, but they were too high for them to reach.

Hikari flipped out when everyone went near the water.

"I'm not swimming in that! It's saliva!"

Donald gave her a look.

"Oh, don't be such a girly girl. It won't do anything to us"

"You don't know that! There could be bacteria and all sorts of things swimming within this goop!"

Sora dragged her to the water and pulled her in.

"Come on"

Hikari let out a girly cry as she swam through the goopy muck.

"This is disgusting! Water isn't suppose to be thick like syrup! My clothes are going to smell like fish after this"

"Oh, quit your whining" Donald said.

"We had a deal, remember?"

Hikari whimpered but kept her mouth shut through the rest of the swim.

She was thankful when they reached the boat in a matter of minutes.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Geppetto looked at the Gummi block that his son had brought with him.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?" The old man asked.

"With this, we can get out of here, Father" Pinocchio said.

Geppetto looked surprised.

"Really? With this big block? You think so?"

"It's true" Sora said as they got on the ship.

Hikari was too busy wringing her shirt out of the saliva to really pay attention with what was going on.

"My hair is going to be ruined" she muttered to herself.

She was just grateful that none of that nasty stuff got on her ribbon.

"So, how did you end up here, Pinocchio?" Sora asked.

"Oh, my. The whale swallowed all of you, too?" Geppetto asked.

"My goodness"

"Yeah, looks like it" Hikari said.

She wrinkled her nose from the smell of her clothes.

"_Great, I smell like fish"_

Geppetto pointed to himself.

"My name is Geppetto. I'm Pinocchio's father"

Everyone introduced themselves.

"When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him" Geppetto said.

"Thank goodness, we're together again"

This almost reminded Hikari of when she was reunited with Leon. He seemed really happy finding his little sister again. It sure made her feel happy when she found her brother.

They didn't even notice that Pinocchio was looking into the depths of Monstro's stomach. He could have sworn that he saw someone running into it.

Geppetto picked up the Gummi block and placed it on the table.

"So, you seem to know Pinocchio quite well" the old man said.

"I hope he was a good boy in my absence"

They didn't have the heart to tell him that the boy was lying when they met him.

"Well, we've all had quite a long journey" Geppetto said.

"Right, Pinocchio? Pinocchio?"

He noticed that his son was missing and was nowhere to be found.

"He must have went deeper within Monstro" Hikari said.

Geppetto sighed.

"I've warned him not to wander off here" he said.

"He can be a naughty boy. Even so, he's precious to me"

That reminded Hikari of when she was little.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"_Hikari! Where are you?"_

_Hikari giggled as she hid behind one of the bookshelves in the library. She went with her mom so she could read to her, but she ran ahead of her so she could pick out a book._

_Taiyouko sighed as she looked around._

"_Hikari, don't do this to mommy. Where are you hiding?"_

_Hikari held back her giggled and hid behind another shelf._

_As she backed up against the book, she hit a loose book and caused the shelf in front of her to closed up and locked her in a book like cell. _

_She began to panic when she realized how dark it was. She ran around the shelves and started banging on them._

"_Mommy!"_

_The shelf in front of her opened up and went back in the same place that it was before._

_Taiyouko stood in front of her with her hands on her hips._

"_There you are"_

_Hikari had tears in her eyes as she ran to her mom. She wrapped her arms around her legs and sniffled. It was so scary being in that dark place._

_Taiyouko knelt down and rubbed her head._

'"_There, there. Mommy's here"_

_She picked her up and went by the table that she usually sat at to read. _

_She placed Hikari on her lap and made her look at her._

"_Now I don't want you to run off like that again, young lady. Do you hear me?"_

_She tapped her nose._

"_It would break mommy's heart if anything happened to her baby girl"_

_Hikari wiped her eyes and smiled._

"_Ok, mommy. I promise"_

_Taiyouko smiled._

"_That's my girl"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari knew that they just couldn't let Pinocchio wander around in this creepy place by himself. Who knows what was out there.

She turned to the others.

"Come on. Let's get Pinocchio before anything happens to him"

They jumped off the boat and swam to the first chamber of Monstro's belly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The first chamber was more damp and slimy than the mouth of Monstro. Every time Hikari took a step forward, she would have a slight bounce in her movement due to the softness of the flesh. It was almost like she was walking on a giant trampoline that was wet and slimy.

"_This is wrong on so many levels!" _she thought.

"_But I can't complain now. I need to find Pinocchio before he gets hurt"_

She jumped up on a few mounds to reach the higher levels of the chamber.

"Now where is that boy?"

She looked around and spotted the puppet standing near the entrance of the next chamber.

"There you are" she said.

She went up to him and knelt down so she was eye level with him.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked.

"Come on, let's go back"

"Geppetto's awfully worried about you" Hikari added.

She held her hand out to him.

"Let's go back to your father"

Pinocchio looked at her hand for a moment, then shook his head.

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around!" Sora said.

"This is no time for games"

They turned around and headed back for Gepppetto's ship.

Hikari stood up.

"This is no place to play around, Pinocchio" she said.

"You could seriously get hurt. Now come on, let's go back to your father"

She started to walk away when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"But Sora, I thought you liked games?"

Hikari felt her heart stop when she turned around and saw a very familiar face.

Riku stood near the entrance of the next chamber.

"Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the keyblade?"

Sora was stunned as well.

"Riku?"

Hikari ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Riku! You're ok!"

She smiled brightly as she looked at him.

"I'm so sorry Donald shooed you off like that earlier. He can be a real jerk sometimes. But that doesn't matter now that you're here"

When she looked at his face, she noticed that he wore a strange grin. It looked like his normal cocky grin that he usually wore, but there was something else that was added to it…something dark.

"Riku?"

He didn't say anything just gave her a hug back.

"I'm glad to see that you were worried about me, Hikari" he said to her.

Hikari felt her face heat up.

Sora was pulled out of his shock and quickly ranted out on Riku.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he asked.

Riku let Hikari go and took a step forward.

"Just playing with Pinocchio" he said.

Sora got angry.

"You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?"

Hikari looked at Riku. She wanted to know where Kairi was as well. She was her best friend after all.

Riku shrugged with that smirk still on his face.

"Maybe. Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know"

Sora stomped his foot in frustration.

"Come on!"

Riku grabbed Pinocchio's hand and ran off into the next chamber.

Hikari panicked when she saw him ran off.

"Riku, wait!"

She ran into the next chamber to find him with Sora and the others hot on her trail.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

There were heartless waiting for them as they entered. It was kind of hard to fight them when the room that they were in was all wet and slippery.

Hikari tripped over a couple of times as she fought because the floor was so slick.

"Stupid whale and its stupid slimy insides"

She just used her magic to get rid of the heartless before she checked her surroundings.

She frantically searched through the whole chamber. There were so many pathways to choose from that she didn't know which one to go in.

"_Riku, where did you go?"_ She thought.

"_Can't you see how worried I was about you? Why did you run off with Pinocchio like that?"_

She found it odd that he was acting like that. The Riku that she knew would never do something like this. Why would he drag a little boy into the depths of a dangerous whale for fun? He never acted like this when they were on the islands. If there was something dangerous going on, he made sure that she was far away from it as possible. And there was that smile of his.

She couldn't help the shivers that ran down her spine as she thought about it. Normally, his smiles would always make her feel warm inside, but this smile just made her insides freeze.

Did something happen to him since they last met?

"_He's starting to change" _The voice said to her.

Change?

What was that suppose to mean?

She decided to keep those thoughts on hold and focus on catching up with Riku. She would ask him what was going on when she saw him.

She looked at the chamber they were in and sighed.

She didn't know which chamber she should go into next. It was almost like a maze.

"What should we do?" Sora asked.

"Should we split up?" Goofy suggested.

Donald shook his head.

"No. That would be dangerous and it would take too much time. This place is like a maze"

Hikari's head slumped.

"I wish we had a clue that would point us in the right direction"

Just then, her pendant started to glow.

Hikari looked at it as it grew brighter.

"Huh?"

A beam shot out of it and pointed to the fourth chamber.

Hikari picked up her pendant.

"What in the world is going on with this thing?"

"I think it's telling us which way to go" Sora said.

Hikari looked at her lucky charm for a moment.

"_Is that what you're trying to tell us?" _she thought.

She decided to take her chances and followed the beam of light.

"Come on, let's go"

They followed the light that was leading the way.

As they walked, Hikari found a piece of paper lying on the ground.

She went over to it and saw that it was another missing page to Merlin's book.

"_What is a page doing inside of a whale?"_

She picked it up and made a face when she saw how slimy it was.

"Ew"

She wiped the slime off of it and stuck it in her back pocket. She resisted the urge to gag when she felt how wet and goopy it was.

"_Remember, Hikari. You're a keyblade master. You've fought with a bunch of heartless and monsters, I'm sure a little slime won't do anything to you"_

She kept repeating that to herself as they went through the next chamber.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Riku was walking through the chamber that he was in. He felt a little bad that he ran off on Hikari like that, but he wanted to get back at Sora somehow.

It just burned him up thinking that he took Hikari from him.

He ground his teeth in frustration.

"Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the keyblade and his new companions, after all"

He turned around to see Maleficent standing behind him.

It really annoyed him how she could magically appear whenever she felt like it.

"I don't care about him" he said.

"I was just messing with him a little"

Maleficent had a know it all smirk on her face.

"Oh really?" she asked.

"Of course you were"

She stared to walk away from him.

"Beware the darkness in your heart" she warned.

"The heartless prey upon it"

She opened a corridor of darkness. Before she entered, she looked back at him.

"And beware of your so called friend. He is trying to take Hikari from you after all"

Riku grew mad when she mentioned Hikari's name.

"Mind your own business!"

She just gave him an evil smirk before disappearing.

Riku glared at where she once stood.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The group had managed to find Pinocchio as they traveled through Monstro.

The little puppet was running from them, thinking that they were still playing their game.

"Pinocchio, come back!" Hikari cried.

"You're going to get hurt!"

The boy didn't listen and just continue to run.

As they ran, they found Riku standing near the next chamber.

He simply watched as Pinocchio ran through it.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

They all stopped and looked at him. She didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to ask what happened to him since they last saw each other in Traverse Town, but she didn't know how to ask him. She also concerned about Pinocchio. Part of her wanted to run after him

Sora seemed to be thinking about Riku and voiced his own opinion.

"What's the matter with you? What are you thinking?" he asked.

"Don't you realize what you're doing?"

Riku just glared at him.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora" he said.

"You only seem interested in running around and showing off that keyblade these days"

Hikari didn't like where this was going. She just knew something ugly was about to happen.

She decided to run after Pinocchio and let Sora and Riku argue. She wanted to ask Riku what was wrong with him, but she just didn't have the heart to ask him. She felt that getting Pinocchio was more important than personal needs right now.

She ran past Riku and went into the next chamber.

"Pinocchio!"

She spotted him in the center of Monstro's bowels.

"There you are"

She ran up to him and squatted down in front of him.

She grabbed him by the shoulders and had him face her.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"Do you know how dangerous it is out here? You could seriously get hurt. Your father is worried sick about you"

Pinocchio looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to play"

Hikari sighed and patted his head.

"We can play when we get back to your father. Now come on, everyone is waiting for you"

She held out her hand to him.

Pinocchio took it and held it tightly.

"Alright, let's get out of here"

They started to walk back to the chamber, when suddenly a giant shadow loomed over them.

Hikari looked up to see what it was and went pale.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back in the chamber, Sora and Riku were still glaring at each other.

Riku had pretty much chewed Sora out for being a keyblade wielder. When he saw Hikari ran off to chase Pinocchio, he decided to get more serious with his best friend.

"Do you even want to save Kairi?" he asked.

He knew that Kairi was important to Sora like Hikari was to him. He wanted to hit him where it hurt.

Sora looked down sadly.

"I do"

He was about to say more, but they heard screaming coming from the other room…Hikari screaming.

"Hikari!" Sora cried.

Riku ran off into the next room like a mad man.

"It sounds like Hikari is in trouble" Goofy said.

"Let's go save her then" Donald replied.

They ran after Riku into the next room to save their female companion.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari looked horrified as she saw the giant heartless before her. It was like some parasite cage that had long tentacle like arms. Pinocchio had somehow got caught into the heartless' mouth and was stuck in the cage. He had his arms holding bars as he looked at Hikari.

"Help!"

Hikari pulled out her keyblade.

"Don't worry! I'll get you out!"

She didn't know if she could fight this thing all by herself. She wished that her friends were here to help her out.

She quickly shook that thought aside. She couldn't depend on them all of the time. She had to fight her own battles by herself.

She was about to launched herself into the fight, when suddenly Riku and Sora appeared next to her.

Riku stood in front of her and pulled out his soul eater sword while Sora summoned his keyblade.

"You weren't about to fight this thing by yourself, were you?" Riku asked.

When Hikari didn't say anything, he got his answer.

"Just leave this to me. Your knight in shining armor will protect you"

Hikari gasped. He remembered that?

Riku turned to Sora.

"You up for this?"

He decided to put their differences aside at the moment since Pinocchio was in danger.

Sora got in a fighting stance.

"No problem. Let's do this"

They both launched themselves into the fray and fought the parasite cage.

Hikari watched them for a moment, then decided to join in. She wasn't going to be the damsel in distress while they fought this thing. Besides, it was her fault that Pinocchio got caught by the heartless anyway.

She jumped off the ledge and attacked the heartless' head.

Her keyblade bounced off the squishy substance that made the heartless.

She jumped out of the way when it swung one of its tentacles at her. She made sure she was far out of its reach as she prepared her next move.

Drinking an either, she set up her set of spells that she would launch at the parasite cage.

She fired off a barrage of fire spells when its back was turned to her. Sora and Riku were distracting it by attacking with their weapons while Donald and Goofy attacked the sides.

When it turned around to attack Hikari, she dodged rolled out of the way and cast thunder on it then blizzard.

She kept doing this until she felt her energy drain.

Drinking a potion, she decided to go onto the offensive side and attacked the bars that were keeping Pinocchio prisioned.

"Get me out of here!"

Hikari held onto one of the bars and used her keyblade to chop it off.

She looked at Pinocchio to see him scared.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here" she reassured him.

Pinocchio saw something behind her and pointed to it.

"Look out!"

She turned around to see one of the cage's tentacles came at her.

She stood in front of Pinocchio and held her arms up in front of her defensively.

"You're not getting a hold of this boy!"

The tentacle grabbed her by the arm and swung her into one of the walls. She slammed into the wall and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Riku saw this and ran up to her to make sure she was ok.

"Hikari!"

She sat up and held her face in pain. Blood ran down the right side of her face from where she hit the wall.

"What the heck? We're inside a whale so why are the walls as hard as rock? It's suppose to be fleshy!"

Riku knelt next to her and handed her a potion.

"Here, take this"

She accepted it gratefully and drank it.

The cut on her face closed up and stopped bleeding.

Riku wiped the blood from her face and checked to see if she was alright.

"You should have stayed out of this and let Sora and I handle this" he said.

Hikari just waved him off and stood up while holding her side.

"I'm not some damsel in distress" she said.

"Besides, I can't let you and Sora have all of the fun. I won't sit back while you guys get hurt and I'm fine. It's not right"

She gave him a reassuring grin.

"I'm glad that you're worried about me, but I can't let you do everything for me"

She summoned her keyblade and looked at him.

"Come on, let's save Pinocchio"

She jumped back into the fray continued hacking away at the heartless.

Whenever it tried to attack her with its tentacles, she would block them with her keyblade.

"You're not going to throw me around like a rag doll again!"

She tried to find an opening or some type of weakness that the heartless had.

She noticed that the head would open its mouth every now and then when it launched its tentacles at them.

"_Maybe that's its way of gathering energy?" _she thought.

She got an idea and jumped up to the highest ledge of the bowels .

She was face to face with the parasite cage and had her keyblade pointed at it.

She waited for it to open its mouth before she launched her attack.

"Say 'ah'!"

She shot out a fire spell and had it flying in its mouth.

The heartless reared back and looked like it was gagging for a moment.

It moved back slightly and grabbed the ceiling of the room with its tentacles. The floor around it opened up and the heartless released Pinocchio, causing him to fall through the hole before it climbed out of the room.

Riku ran after him and jumped through the hole.

"Riku!" Sora shouted.

Hikari landed next to him and looked at the hole.

"Let's go after him"

They all jumped through the hole and followed Riku.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They landed back into the mouth of Monstro and fell onto Geppetto's boat.

The old man was looking up at one of the beams.

Riku stood on the beams with Pinocchio being held. The boy seemed to be out cold and hung lifelessly in his arm.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Geppetto cried.

"Please! Give me back my son!"

Hikari looked horrified as she saw Riku holding Pinocchio like a rag doll.

"Riku, what are you doing?" she cried.

"Put him down!"

"Sorry, old man" Riku said.

"I have some unfinished business with this puppet."

"He's no puppet!" Geppetto cried.

"Pinocchio is my little boy!"

"He is unusual" Riku admitted.

"Not many puppets have hearts"

He looked down at Pinocchio.

"I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs"

Sora looked horrified.

"Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?"

"What do you care about her?" Riku snapped.

He walked off with Pinocchio in tow.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari looked hurt when he left.

He was really different. He wanted to sacrifice Pinocchio just so he could get Kairi back.

She bit her lip as she thought of that.

The way he talked to Sora, it seemed like he really cared about her. Did that mean that he liked Kairi more than her?

She shook that thought aside. She wasn't going to be upset over this right now.

They needed to save Pinocchio.

"_Besides, maybe he meant what he said as a friend. Maybe he doesn't like her more than me. Who knows"_

She looked at the others.

"Come on, let's go"

They ran back into the chambers and went after Riku.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

There were more heartless in the chambers now than there were before.

"_It must be because of that giant heartless" _Hikari thought.

They hacked their way through the hoard and kept on going.

"Where do you think he went?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I have no idea. I doubt he would be hiding in one of these chambers"

Jiminy suddenly jumped on Sora's shoulder.

"Go to the stomach!" he cried.

"Pinocchio is there"

They looked at the little cricket.

"What makes you think that he would be there?" Donald asked.

"I'm his conscience! I know everything about him!" Jiminy cried.

"Do you know where the stomach is?" Goofy asked.

"Yep! Just follow me!"

He pointed where they had to go.

"If he knows where to go in this place, why didn't he help us before?" Donald asked.

Hikari shrugged.

"Who knows"

They followed Jiminy as he pointed to where the stomach was.

As they ran, Hikari wondered what was going on in Riku's mind.

"_Riku" _she thought.

"_What's happened to you?"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Riku put Pinocchio down when he felt he was far away from the others.

He figured since Sora wasn't going to find Kairi, then he had to take matters into his own hands.

"If Sora is going to take away Hikari, then I'm going to take away Kairi" he said to himself.

He heard rapid footsteps coming closer.

He sighed, knowing that it had to be Sora.

"Figures"

The gang ran into the stomach and spotted Riku and Pinocchio.

Hikari panicked when she saw that the boy still wasn't awake yet.

"Let Pinocchio go, Riku!" she cried.

Riku just looked at her coldly which caused Hikari to take a step back.

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the heartless" he said.

"Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi"

So he really did care about Kairi. Just thinking about it made Hikari's heart ache. Didn't he know how much she loved him? Couldn't he see that she was thinking about him this whole time that they were traveling?

It seemed that it didn't matter to him. He was more focused on saving Kairi.

Riku held his hand out to Sora.

"How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it together"

Sora drew out his keyblade.

Riku looked taken back.

"What? You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?"

Sora glared.

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience"

"Conscience?" Riku scoffed.

Jiminy ran to Pinocchio.

"Pinocchio!"

Hikari ran after him as well. She wanted to make sure that he was ok.

As she ran, she bumped passed Riku. That brief contact made her see Riku's memories. She saw images of him hanging with Maleficent and listening to the lies that she spouted to him.

Her eyes went wide as she looked at him.

"_Riku…you're with…"_

"You might not hear it" Sora continued.

"But right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me that you're on the wrong side!"

Hikari covered her mouth with her hand.

Riku was working with Maleficent? The same witch that fought with her mom and destroyed her world?

Riku glared at her and Sora.

"Then you leave me no choice" he said.

"I'll rescue Kairi by myself"

Jiminy went up to Pinocchio.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio"

Hikari knelt next to him and examined him.

"Are you ok?"

The boy slowly opened his eyes.

"Jiminy… I'm not gonna make it" he said weakly.

His nose suddenly grew huge.

"Oh! I guess I'm ok!"

Jiminy lectured him in frustration.

Hikari grinned at them before looking at Riku.

They both looked at each other. His aquamarine eyes were cold and uncaring while her jade green ones were filled with hurt and despair.

How did it all come down to this?

Just then, the parasite cage crashed through the stomach and landed in front of them, blocking Riku from their view.

He secretly opened a dark portal to escape. He looked at Hikari one last time before going into it.

Hikari picked up Pinocchio and ran back to the others.

She put him down and pushed him towards the entrance of the stomach.

"Run!" She cried.

He and Jiminy ran off while she ran back to Sora and the others.

"Looks like beating it once didn't do the trick" she said.

"It looks like it" Sora said.

"We need to be extra careful though. This place is surrounded by acid. Step into it, and we'll be in big trouble"

Hikari pulled out her keyblade.

"I hear you loud and clear. Now let's get rid of this thing"

They jumped up to the higher levels of the stomach so they could aim for the head.

It seemed it liked to swing itself around by sticking its arms into the ground and lifting itself up.

They all had to jump out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by the giant mass.

It also learned to suck up the acid that was within the room using its tentacles and spewing blobs out of its mouth.

Hikari got to the highest level of the stomach and cast Aero on herself. This would be able to repel the acid that saw shot at her.

They all kept aiming for the head, hoping they would knock it out cold so they could do more damage.

Goofy managed to do that when he threw his shield and hit it on the back side of its head.

The heartless leaned back and opened its cage mouth, leaving itself open.

Hikari shot fires spells at it and did massive damage to it

They kept fighting it for what seemed like hours before they finally managed to defeat it, which cause everyone to learn the stop spell.

The heatless fell over and caused the room to explode from the acid.

"Run!" Donald yelled.

Everyone ran, but Hikari stopped when she remembered Riku. She didn't know that he went through a portal, so she thought he was still in the room.

"Riku! Riku, where are you?"

She looked around, but couldn't see him.

Goofy grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

"Come on, Hikari! We have to go!"

He pulled her away just as the room erupted from the acid.

All that Hikari could think of as they ran was Riku and why he was with Maleficent.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Riku at the moment was on Captain Hook's ship. He went there when the Parasite cage appeared for the second time.

He looked at Kairi's body that was resting on one of the beds in the Captain's room.

"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" he asked.

Maleficent stood behind him.

"Precisely" she said.

"And her heart was…"

"Taken by the heartless, no doubt" the witch said.

Riku turned to her. He looked desperate.

"Tell me! What can I do?"

Maleficent grinned wickedly.

"There are eight maidens of the purest heart. We call them the princesses of heart" she said.

"Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There, you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart"

Riku looked at Kairi's body. If he couldn't have Hikari, then would just have to take Kairi instead.

"_You stole something precious from me, Sora. So now I'll take something precious from you"_

She held out her staff.

"Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the heartless"

Riku felt this energy running through him. He had never felt this strong before.

He looked at Kairi's body.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: Poor Hikari, it seems that Riku is more interested in Kairi now than her. But if only he knew what he was thinking.**

**Please review and tell me what you think! **

**And please answer my poll too!**

**Ja ne!**


	16. Atlantica

Chapter 16: Atlantica

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm glad to see that you think Riku is wrong for thinking that Hikari doesn't love him. But he'll know eventually.**

**Now we're on what I thought was one of the hardest worlds in this game (besides End of the Worlds). But it is fun to see everyone dress up differently. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Due to the fight with the Parasite cage, Monstro had sneezed everyone out of him. Donald had to steer the ship and gain control of it since it shot out like a rocket.

Goofy looked out the window to see the whale getting smaller and smaller.

"I sure hope Pinocchio and Geppetto are ok" he said.

"Yeah, hopefully they landed safely somewhere" Donald added.

Sora looked out the window sadly.

"Riku"

Hikari didn't say anything at all. She curled herself into a ball and stared lifelessly out her window. Her mind kept thinking about what Riku had said back there. He said he was going to save Kairi by himself, did that mean that he loved her?

She bit her lip when she felt tears coming.

She shouldn't feel jealous over her best friend. That was wrong. She never had a rivalry with her like Sora and Riku had. She never competed with her on anything. They were practically sisters. She didn't have a fighting gene in her body.

"_Sure, she's smart, cute, and has a sense in fashion, and everyone on the islands have a crush on her, but I shouldn't have a grudge over that. She has a pretty face and is really girly while I'm average looking and act a bit more tomboyish"_

Her eyes started to water up as she thought of these things.

"_Oh, who am I kidding? Kairi is better than me! Sure, I can fight with a sword, but she doesn't need to defend herself. She has the face that would attract any guy to defend her, even Sora and Riku. She has the highest grades than all of us and she's always cheerful with everything and doesn't complain like I do. And she's not even afraid of anything, including the dark, while I'm mortally terrified of it and start breaking down whenever I see the slightest bit of a shadow! I'm such a baby compared to her!"_

She burred her faced within her knees as the tears fell from her face.

"Maybe he does love her" she said to herself.

"Who does?" Sora asked.

He saw her crying and knew something was up.

Hikari looked up with tears running down her face.

"Riku" she choked.

"I think he likes Kairi more than he does me, at least as a friend"

She sniffled.

"You saw how he acted back there. He was more concerned rescuing Kairi than being with us! I just know he loves her!"

She wiped her eyes with the back of her arm.

"And I don't blame him. She's pretty and confident and she's not afraid of the dark like I am. I'm pathetic next to her!"

She sobbed quietly as she cried into her hands.

Goofy got out of his seat and squatted next to her.

"Don't cry, Hikari"

He pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back while she was crying.

"You're not pathetic at all. There are a lot of things that you're good at that Kairi probably isn't." he said.

"You're an expert when it comes to magic and you're incredible when it comes to strategizing battle plans. You're a really strong fighter for being just a girl. You always cheer people up with your words and your smiles. And you're a keyblade master. I bet Kairi doesn't have a keyblade. You're really are an incredible person, Hikari, so don't doubt yourself"

Hikari felt more tears coming from her eyes, only this time they weren't sad.

It seemed that Goofy was the nicest person within their group and he knew just what to say to make someone feel better about themselves. He was probably the closest friend she had in this group besides Sora.

"Thank you, Goofy"

She hugged him tighter and cried some more.

She looked at Donald who was steering the ship and gave him a look. She didn't want any lip, or rather, bill from him saying that she was acting like a girl.

"I know I'm crying like an idiot, but I'm a girl. We break down more easily than men do, so deal with it. And don't give me any of that 'you need to take your role as a keyblade master more seriously' garbage"

Donald didn't say anything as he steered. Instead, he pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

"Here" he said.

Hikari was surprised but took it from him.

"Thanks"

She wiped her eyes on it before handing it back to him.

Sora patted her on the shoulder.

"I don't think Riku loves Kairi anyway" he said.

"He probably sees her more like a sister figure. If he were to love someone, it would probably be you"

Hikari gave him a doubtful look.

"What makes you think that? I'm plain, compared to Kairi"

Sora shook his head.

"Not from what I've seen. Whenever we were dueling on the islands and you were around, Riku always fought harder so you would cheer him on. And whenever you were walking by, he would always be looking at you"

He gave her a smile.

"I'm his best friend, so I know how he reacts around you, and that would be because he really likes you"

Hikari looked away slightly.

Could that be true? Could Riku really like her?

"You think so?"

"I know so!" Sora beamed.

Hikari smiled softly.

"Ok, I'll take your word on it"

"If you're all done with this mushy moment, how about we head on back to Traverse Town" Donald said.

"We need to get more supplies"

Everyone got back in their seats.

Hikari looked out the window deep in thought.

Maybe she had hope after all. If Riku really liked her, then that meant that she would have a chance with him.

But as she thought over the memories that she picked from him, she couldn't help but feel doubtful. He was working with Maleficent, so that meant he was with the bad guys.

"_Is it too late for me?" _she thought.

"_Will I never be able to confess my feelings to him?"_

"_There's still hope, child" _The voice said.

"_His heart hasn't been steeped too deep within the darkness. Your love could be the key to his salvation. You can bring him back to the light"_

So there was still a chance for her then.

As she looked out the window, she silently made a vow to herself.

"_Riku, instead of you being my knight in shining armor, I'll be your shining knight. I'll be the one who comes to rescue you"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They made is back to Traverse Town in no time. Since they had a bit of Munny to spare, they decided to buy every single potion and either that they could get their hands on.

Just as they were about to enter the item shop, Hikari noticed a house that wasn't within this district before.

"That's odd, I wonder who lives there?"

They decided to investigate and see how lived there.

Sora opened the door to the house and looked inside.

"Hello?"

The person who came at the door was someone they didn't expect to see.

Pinocchio was jumping up and down when he saw his friends.

"Hey, it's Sora and Hikari!"

Geppetto came to the door and greeted them.

"Why hello, everyone"

Everyone was flabbergasted. They didn't expect to see them so soon, let alone on this world.

"_At least they're not in Monstro" _Hikari thought.

"How did you get here?" Sora asked.

"A man named Leon helped us" Geppetto said.

"He even got us this house to live in. I don't know how I'll ever repay his kindness"

Hikari smiled at that.

"_That was so nice of Ni-san" _

"Say, I hear you four are fighting the heartless" Geppetto said.

"I thought I might be able to help you, so I made this"

He gave them a blue print of a new Gummi ship.

"For us?" Hikari asked.

"But of course! Pinocchio and I can't thank you enough! We'll do anything we can to help you"

Hikari smiled at that.

"Thank you"

They left after saying goodbye and went to get their supplies.

"Hey, Hikari. Aren't you going to see Leon?" Sora asked.

Hikari thought about it. She did want to see her brother, but she didn't him to see her face all messed up. She still had tear streaks running down her face, so if Leon saw her like this, he would probably think that Sora said something to her and whip out his Gunblade on him.

She gave him a smile and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. We need to get going anyway"

With that, she picked up her supplies and headed back for the Gummi ship.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The ride wasn't that grand. It was pretty much the same thing with the traveling and shooting things.

She yawned slightly and dozed off into her seat. Since there was nothing for her to do, she decided to get some shut eye.

The dream she had was very strange though.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_Hikari and Leon were running down one of the many hallways of their world. They were heading for the library to hear a story from their mom. _

_Hikari was giggling as she held onto Leon's hand. He wouldn't keep her out of his sight when they were here. She had a tendency to get lost._

_As they were running, they bumped into someone._

"_Sorry" Leon said. _

_When he looked up to see who he bumped into, he regretted doing so. _

_The man that Hikari kept seeing in those memories stood before them._

_Leon held her hand tightly and pulled her back a little._

_The man just smiled at them._

"_Ah, if it isn't Taiyouko's children. I take it you're here to see her?"_

_Hikari nodded slowly. She didn't know why, but this man scared her._

"_Yes, sir" she said._

_The man had a strange grin on his face._

"_My, my, it's little Hikari" _

_He knelt down in front of her so he was eye leveled with her. He held her face the same way he did with Taiyouko._

"_You look just like your mother. A spitting image"_

_Leon shoved his hand away._

"_Don't touch her!" he barked._

_The man looked taken aback for a second before chuckling deeply._

"_My, what a protective brother you have here" he said to Hikari._

_He stood up and dusted himself off._

"_Well, then. I'm sure you're mother is waiting for you. I'll let you go" _

_Leon pulled her sister along the hallway and away from him._

_Hikari looked over her shoulder to see the man. The one thing that stood out about him was his golden eyes._

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari groaned when she woke up.

"_What kind of memory was that?" _she thought .

That was the most random memory that she recovered since their journey began. She didn't really learn anything from it. The only thing she got from it was that she now knew what that man's face looked like.

She remembered that he had very dark skin that looked like bronze almost and that he had such bright golden eyes.

Aside from Riku's eyes, that was a color she had never seen in an eye. And the vibe they gave off made her skin crawl.

While Riku's eyes had a calm, relaxing feeling to them, this man's eyes were evil and made her want to run away.

"_Who was that guy anyway? And why do I feel like I know him?_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Sora and Donald arguing…again.

She went over and saw what appeared to be a world that was underwater.

"Ok, guys. Prepare for landing" Donald said.

"Land where? " Sora asked.

"In the sea? We'll drown!"

Hikari had to agree with them. Sure they lived on an island and always swam a lot, but there was no way they could hold their breath for that long.

"Not with my magic, we won't" Donald said.

"Just leave it to me"

Hikari didn't like where this would be going. She thought Donald was an expert when it came to magic, but she didn't trust him when it came to underwater worlds.

"_But then again, I'm not so good when it comes to things like this" _she thought.

"_I might as well trust him"_

She braced herself for what was to happen to her by the hands of her feathery friend.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The seas of Atlantica were calm and relaxing. Fish were swimming casually and the plants were floating freely from where they were rooted.

However, that all changed when our four heroes magically appeared out of nowhere.

Everyone looked entirely different from what they usually looked.

Sora's upper body was bare and he had a dolphin like tail that made the rest of his body.

Donald was pretty much the same, only his lower body with that of an octopus.

Goofy had the body of a sea turtle and still wore his hat.

As for Hikari, she took the form of a mermaid with a black tail with a red clam bra that had sliver trimming on it.

She examined herself and smiled.

"Oh yeah, now this color scheme is more me"

She always did hate the color green, but she only wore it because they didn't have outfits that were in her colors back on the islands.

She sighed as she waved her arms around the water. It was so strange being able to breathe underwater without holding her breath. It was like she was breathing in air.

She ran her hands through her hair.

"Now I can finally wash all that sweat and grime from our travels"

She looked at the others and snickered.

"Wow, you guys look so different from the way you usually look"

Everyone was trying to stay up right without sinking to the ground. Since they didn't know how to use their current bodies, they didn't know how to swim with them.

Hikari tried moving her arms to keep her up, but it wasn't working real well.

Donald tried to keep himself up using the same method, but he just wound up turning upside down.

Goofy had no trouble since he was a turtle and he could use his whole body to move.

They were continuing to learn how to move their bodies when three figures swam towards them.

One was a mermaid that had red hair and had a green tail with a purple clam bra while the other two were a yellow fish and a small crab.

The mermaid looked behind her as she continued to swim.

"Come on, Sebastian!" she called.

The crab was far behind as he tried to swim up to them.

"Ariel, wait! Slow down!" he cried.

"Don't leave me behind!"

He continued to swim as hard as he could. He eventually came face to face with an annoyed Donald, who was still upside down.

He screamed and backed up a bit.

Sora and the others swam towards them, but with difficulty.

Sebastian quickly swam behind Ariel.

The mermaid just laughed.

"Relax, Sebastian" she said.

"They don't look like one of them"

She turned to her fish friend.

"Right, Flounder?"

Flounder poked his head out from behind Ariel.

"I don't know" he said.

"There's something weird about them"

Sora laughed nervously.

"What do you mean?"

He was afraid that they knew they weren't from this world.

Ariel went up to them and examined them.

"They do seem…a little different" she said.

"Where are you from?"

Hikari quickly came up with an idea.

"We're from kind of far away" she said.

"And we're not really used to these waters"

Everyone nodded eagerly.

Ariel seemed to buy it since she believed them.

"Oh, I see. In that case…"

She looked at Sebastian, who was still having a glaring match with Donald.

"Sebastian can show you how we swim around here"

The crab went up to her.

"Ariel, King Triton will not like this!" He cried.

Ariel just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't worry"

Sebastian just groaned.

"Easy for you to say" he said.

He looked at the group.

"Ok, it's time you learn how to swim properly. Practice swimming with Flounder, try to tag him"

They practiced chasing Flounder a bit to improve their swimming. It was like swimming normally, only they didn't use both of their legs. It was easy, once they got the hang of it.

"Good job" Sebastian said.

"Now let's move on to self defense"

"Sebastian!" Ariel cried.

She pointed a little ways down where a swarm of jelly fish heartless were coming.

"Here too?" Hikari asked annoyed.

Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder swam away.

"Class is over!" the crab cried.

"Good luck!"

He and Flounder hid within a giant clam while Ariel hid within an opening in one of the walls.

Hikari and the others pulled out their weapons.

"We never get any slack, do we?" Hikari asked.

"It must come with the job of being keyblade master" Sora said.

They dove into the fray and started attacking. It was a little hard since they couldn't run, but luckily they had the Stop spell to help them.

Hikari would cast it and have them freeze in place. They would just attack them without any trouble and destroy them without getting hurt themselves.

When the heartless were gone, Ariel came out of her hiding spot. She looked around to see that the place was safe.

Hikari went to the clam that Sebastian and Flounder were hiding in. She tapped her keyblade on it.

"Knock knock"

They slowly opened the clam and looked around. When they saw that the heartless were gone, they came out.

They swam towards Ariel.

The mermaid looked at their guests.

"Those creatures chased us here" she said.

Sebastian panicked.

"Oh, no! Those monsters might be heading for the palace, too!"

"We'd better head back right away!" Ariel said.

"But , wh-what if we run into more on our way back?" Flounder stuttered.

That was a problem.

Ariel looked at the group.

"I'm sorry, but we need your help. Please come to the palace with us"

Sora was about to protest, but Hikari elbowed him in the ribs.

"We might be able to find the keyhole this way" she whispered.

She smiled at Ariel.

"We'd be more than happy to" she said.

"Just lead the way and we'll take care of the rest"

Ariel smiled.

"Oh, thank you so much. Follow me"

They followed her towards the undersea valley.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Everyone was amazed by how beautiful this world was. They never realized anything this beautiful could exist underwater.

"_So this is what things look like underwater" _Hikari thought.

"_If we ever get the islands back, I'll have to see what the sea looks from this perspective"_

They ran into a few casualties along the way. It seemed that the heartless could transform into anything, even fish version.

Since Ariel was in the group, it made things easier. She was really skilled when it came to magic, so the group really didn't have to depend on Donald of Hikari as much.

"_It's nice to have another female in the group. I get singled out by being surrounded by all these men"_

When the heartless were gone, Ariel continued to lead them to the palace.

Hikari was amazed by the scenery when they got there. It was like an enchanted kingdom from a story book.

"Wow" she breathed.

"This place is amazing"

Ariel smiled.

"Thank you"

They swam towards the palace to see if the heartless were here as well.

As they swam through the palace, Hikari noticed that someone was swimming behind them. When she turned around to see who it was, she saw a group of heartless.

"Uh, guys. We've got company"

They saw them as well. Since there were too many of them, they ran away.

They swam deeper within the palace.

When the heartless got close to them, they were zapped away by someone.

"That was too close"

Everyone turned around to see a merman with a long white beard and a crown sitting on his throne. He held a type of scepter in his hands.

"As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace"

Everyone backed away a little when they saw the intense look in his eyes.

Ariel smiled and swam up to him.

"Daddy!"

The merman didn't look pleased with her.

"Oh, Ariel!"

She frowned at his tone.

"When will you listen? It's dangerous out there!"

Ariel just sighed.

"Strange creatures lurk outside"

The merman looked at the group hardly.

Sora just glared at him.

Sebastian cleared his throat.

"Behold. You swim before the ruler of the seas: His majesty, King Triton"

Hikari immediately bowed. She was taught to always to show her respect to higher authority.

Triton looked at the group.

"And who are they?" he asked.

"They helped us fight off those creatures" Ariel said.

"They don't look familiar"

Hikari laughed nervously.

"We're from an ocean very far away, your majesty" she said.

Goofy swam around.

"Yup. We came to find the keyhole"

Hikari glared at him. Nobody was suppose to know about them.

"Goofy!" she hissed.

Triton looked alarmed.

"The what?"

"What's that?" Ariel asked.

"Well, it's a-"

"There's no such thing!" Triton cried.

"Certainly not here"

Ariel looked at her father.

"But, Daddy.."

Triton have his daughter a harsh look.

"Ariel, not another word!" he ordered.

"You are not to leave the palace, is that clear?"

Ariel just glared at her father and swam off.

The others didn't know what to do, so they followed her.

Hikari quickly bowed before she left.

"It was nice meeting you, your majesty"

She swam off to catch up with the others.

Triton sighed when they left.

"Perhaps I'm being too strict" he said.

Sebastian swam up to his king.

"I'm just concerned for her safety"

"Of course, your majesty" Sebastian said.

"But I must admit, now I'm quite curious about this keyhole"

Triton looked at the crab sternly.

"That need not concern you, Sebastian" he warned.

"Have you anything to report?"

The crab nodded.

"Just as you suspected, your majesty, they seem to be coming from Ursula's grotto"

Triton slammed his fist on his throne.

"I knew it! That sea witch is up to no good again. I see exile from the palace has taught her nothing"

Sebastian nodded.

"Yes, she poses serious danger"

Triton glared at the crab.

"And I told you to keep Ariel away from such danger, did I not?"

Sebastian panicked.

"Your majesty, please. I, uh…"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile, the others followed Ariel out of the palace.

"Shouldn't you be staying in the palace?" Hikari asked.

"Your father did say to stay put"

Ariel just waved it off.

"I'm always going off on my own. Besides, I want to show you something"

They followed her away from the palace.

"Is this a good idea?" Goofy asked.

"Don't know. But we need to keep an eye on Ariel just in case" Sora said.

They followed her as she went farther away from the palace.

They went through the undersea valley and went into an open area. Ariel swam up to a giant boulder that was on the ground and pushed it aside.

"In here" she said.

They followed her and found themselves in some type of grotto. The walls were lines up with millions of trinkets. Most of them looked like things that were similar to the object on the islands. There was also a trident like marking on one of the walls.

"Wow, look at this place" Hikari said.

Ariel swam around happily.

"Look at all of the wonderful things Flounder and I've collected" she said.

"I think it from the outside world"

She swam up to Sora and Hikari.

"Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?"

Sora and Hikari smiled.

She reminded them of themselves wanting to travel to different worlds on their raft.

"Not at all" Hikari said.

"We used to feel the same way" Sora said.

"Used to?"

"I mean..we still do"

Ariel thought for a moment.

"Hey, why don't we try looking for that keyhole you were talking about?"

Sora and Hikari looked at each other nervously.

They did want to find it, but they didn't want to drag Ariel into it.

"But your father said-"

"Oh, he treats me like a little girl!' Ariel snapped.

"He never lets me do anything. He just… he just doesn't understand"

She didn't realize that Sebastian had snuck into the grotto and had heard everything.

Hikari thought about what Ariel said.

She recalled Leon acting the same way.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_9 years ago_

_Hikari was walking through the streets of Traverse Town. She wanted to get out of the hotel that they were staying at so she decided to travel through the second district. There were a lot of shops in this area, so she wanted to see which ones were open. It seemed the ones that she passed by were closed, but she didn't give up. _

_She went down the steps and went near the fountain. The water looked so pretty with all the lights glimmering around it. _

_She went up to it and knelt next to the edge. She giggled when she saw her reflection in the water. She stuck her hand in it, just to see if she could touch her reflection. She leaned in a little too far and ended up falling in the fountain. She sat up soaking wet and spat out the water in her mouth._

"_Uh oh. I'm all wet"_

_She went to get out of the fountain, but she saw a group of heartless surrounding her._

_She screamed and backed away farther into the fountain. _

_As they were closing in on her, Leon jumped off the ledge to the upper level of the steps and stood in front of her._

"_Get away from her!"_

_He drew out his Gunblade and slashed them to pieces._

_When they were gone, he turned to Hikari, who was pressed up against the back of the fountain._

_She trembled from fear. The heartless really scared her._

_Leon sighed and stepped into the fountain to get her._

"_Hikari what are you doing out here?"_

_He picked her up and held her close._

"_You're soaking wet. Did you fall into the fountain?"_

_She nodded._

_Leon sighed._

"_Come on, let's get into something warm"_

_He got out of the fountain and headed back for the hotel._

_//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////_

"_What were you doing out of our hotel room?" he asked._

_He put her into a pair of pajamas and was drying her hair with a towel._

"_I wanted to look at the stores" she said innocently._

"_You know you're not suppose to go off on your own like that" Leon said._

_He put the towel away and started to brush her hair down._

"_This place is filled with heartless. They'll attack anyone they can get their hands on" he warned._

"_And since mom isn't here, I'm responsible for you. I need you to listen to what I say" _

_He placed his hands on her shoulders._

"_I don't want to lose my baby sister, ok?"_

_Hikari grinned._

"_ok"_

_Leon smirked._

"_Good. Now it's way past your bed time. You need to go to sleep"_

_Hikari frowned._

"_Can't I stay up just a little bit longer?"_

"_No. Little girls need to go sleep. You need to get some shut eye"_

_He picked her up and placed her on their bed. He pulled the covers over her and kissed her forehead. _

"_You go to sleep, ok? I'll be up to make sure the heartless don't come"_

_Hikari snuggled under the sheets._

"_Night, Ni-san"_

_Leon ran his hand through her hair._

"_Night Hikari"_

_He left the room to patrol the hall ways that night._

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari smirked.

Sure, she didn't like it that Leon had the final say in everything, but he was just protecting her. He was the only one in their family that had to take care of her. He had to be the parent and the brother figure for her.

She figured King Triton was doing the same thing for Ariel. He didn't want to see his daughter get hurt.

Sora looked at her.

"How about it, Hikari? Should we look for the keyhole?"

Hikari thought about it. She did want to find it, but she didn't think it was such a good idea to have Ariel involved in it. But then again, she knew this place really well, so she could help them.

"I don't see why not. Let's go"

They all swam out of the grotto, unaware of a set of ells watching them.

Flotsam and Jetsam watched as they left, showing Ursula what they saw.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The evil sea witch laughed wickedly as she looked through her cauldron. She could see the keyblade wielders swimming away with Ariel.

"Those impudent fools will never find the keyhole" she said.

She smirked as she looked at Ariel.

"But the girl could prove useful. And I've got the heartless on my side"

She laughed.

"Triton, my old friend…your day is coming"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"So where should we look?" Sora asked.

Hikari shrugged.

"I don't know where a keyhole would be in a place like this"

"Oh, I know where we can look" Ariel said.

"There's this old sunken ship that Flounder and I always go to. We find all kinds of things there"

"That's cool, but how do we get there?"

Ariel spotted a dolphin swimming by.

"We can use him. He knows how to get there, and he can go really fast'

She went up to the creature and asked for a ride. The dolphin nodded and let them grab on. Sora and Hikari grabbed onto the dorsal fin with Donald and Goofy hanging onto their tails while Ariel held one of the fins.

The Dolphin took off and zipped through the ocean. It was way better than when they were flying on the magic carpet in Agrabah.

Hikari just loved the feeling.

"This is awesome!"

The dolphin lead them to the sunken ship area and swam off. The whole area was a lot darker than the rest of the ocean.

Hikari suppressed the urge to whimper. Not only were they in a dark place, but in an open area. Who knew what was swimming out here?

They spotted the ship and swam towards it. Ariel found an opening in the ship and swam in.

Hikari looked around and shuddered.

"This place gives me the creeps" she said.

They spotted a treasure chest near the back of the ship.

"Hey, look. Treasure" Sora said.

He swam up to it so he could see what was inside. But before he could do that, a great white shark crash through the window and tried to bite Sora's head off.

Hikari screamed and hid behind Goofy.

When the shark couldn't reach Sora, it swam.

"Aw, man. I forgot sharks live in the ocean" Hikari whimpered.

She trembled next to Donald, who was shaken up by the shark as well.

Sora went back to the treasure chest and opened it up.

He pulled out a crystal that was shaped like a trident. H

Hikari slowly went up to him and examined it.

"Hey, this shape reminds me of something" she said.

She recalled a similar shape in Ariel's grotto.

"I think I saw something similar to this in Ariel's grotto"

"Then let's go back to it" Ariel said.

They went to swim out of the ship, but Hikari stopped them.

"What about the shark? It's still out there"

"We'll just fight it as if it were a heartless" Sora said.

"It's no big deal"

"No big deal? That thing has razor sharp teeth. Heartless just want to steal our hearts, sharks want to eat us whole!"

Sora grabbed her arm and pulled her out.

"Relax, nothing's going to happen, you'll see"

Just as they got out of the ship, the shark appeared.

"It was waiting for us! We're dead!"

Sora and the others rushed in to fight the shark.

They stayed away from its razor sharp teeth.

Hikari stayed as far away from it as possible. She wasn't afraid of sharks, just their teeth. She remembered watching shark week on the television and seeing them rip people's body parts off. There was no way she was going to become one of those victims. But watching her friends fighting the beast and nearly getting bitten pushed her fears back.

She drew out her keyblade and swam at the thing.

"You're not going to eat my friends!"

She cast stop on it and had the shark freeze in place. She used that as her opportunity to attack the shark mercilessly. She broke its teeth and jabbed her keyblade in the gills. Everyone watched as she attacked the shark like a mad woman.

When the spell wore off, the shark ran away.

"That's right, and don't bother us again!"

She looked at her friends to see the scared looks on their faces.

"What? I didn't want to get bitten"

They just shook it off as one her moments and swam out of the sunken ship area.

"Let's take this back to Ariel's grotto" Sora said.

They headed back to Ariel's sanctuary.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When they got back to the Grotto, Sora held up the crystal trident.

"Let's see if this fits into the trident symbol in your cave"

He placed it in the symbol and saw that it fit perfectly.

"Now what?" Hikari asked.

They just shrugged. They just kept looking at it until they were interrupted.

"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!"

King Triton came into the grotto looking mad.

"Uh oh" Hikari muttered.

"I told you not to leave the palace!"

He spotted the crystal and panicked. He pulled out his trident and zapped it to dust.

Ariel looked horrified at what her father had done.

"How could you?"

She swam off upset and left her friends behind.

Triton looked at Sora and Hikari.

"You two" he said.

"You're not from another ocean. You're from another world, aren't you?"

Sora and Hikari panicked.

How did he know that?

"Then you must be the key bearers"

"How did you know, your majesty?" Hikari asked.

"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me. You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail" Triton said.

"As the key bearers, you must already know one must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds"

"Of course we know!" Sora said.

"But..."

"You have violated this principle" Triton said.

"They key bearers, shatters piece and brings ruin"

That was lie. They had brought peace to all of the worlds that they had been on. They had prevented the heartless from coming to those worlds.

"Sora and Hikari aren't like that" Goofy said.

Triton wouldn't have any of it.

"I thank you for saving my daughter. But there is no room in my ocean for you or your keys"

With that, he swam off.

Hikari looked at her keyblade sadly.

How could her weapon shatter piece? It had done so much by restoring the light to each world and by sealing it away from the heartless.

"He's wrong, there's no way my key could do all of the things that he said"

She looked at Sora who seemed to be upset as well.

"Don't listen to him, Sora. We've done a lot of good things with our keyblades. He just doesn't know that"

She patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's go see how Ariel is doing. She seemed pretty upset when she left"

Sora nodded but didn't say anything.

They swam out of the grotto to find their mermaid friend.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ariel in the mean time was off somewhere crying. Why did her father have to break that crystal?

She was crying so much, that she didn't even notice that Flotsam and Jetsam were nearby until they spoke.

"My, my, the poor child suffers such deep sorrow" Flotsam said.

They swam around her.

"What a pity. If only there were something we could do…" Jetsam said.

Ariel watched as they swam around her.

"Wait. Maybe she can be of some help" Jetsam said.

"Yes. Maybe she can be of some help to you" Flotsam added.

"Who're you talking about?" Ariel asked.

"Oh, she would surely help you" Flotsam said.

"She'd make all your dreams come true"

"Ursula can help" They said in unison.

Just then, Ursula appeared.

"You called, my dear?"

Ariel looked at her nervously.

"You're Ursula? I was just wondering if…"

Ursula smiled 'innocently' as she approached her.

"It's alright. Helping others is what I live for"

She already knew what the mermaid wanted.

"Let me guess. You wish to see other worlds, that shouldn't be too hard. After all, your new friends came from another world"

Ariel looked surprised.

"Really?"

Ursula nodded.

"But they had special help- that mysterious key"

Ariel looked away sadly. She didn't have one of those.

"Now, now. Cheer up, sweetie" Ursula said.

"You have something special, too"

Ariel looked hopefully.

Ursula motioned her closer.

"Now listen carefully"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Do you think she went back to the palace" Goofy asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Probably. This place is crawling with heartless, so I doubt she would be out here"

"Let's go check then. I want talk to King Triton about the keyblade. He had no right saying those things about it" Hikari said.

They swam back to the palace to check up of Ariel.

They fought with a couple of heartless along the way.

"I swear, fighting on this world is so much harder than it is on any other one" Hikari said.

"I'm used to running, not swimming"

"There's a first time for everything" Sora said.

Since Hikari didn't want to fight, she would just use the time spell whenever a heartless appeared. It was pretty helpful they could swim away from it while it was still frozen.

"This is becoming my favorite spell" Hikari said.

They headed back to the palace, unaware of what was happening.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ursula laughed wickedly as she held the trident. Her plan had worked by using Ariel.

"The trident is mine at last!"

She looked at Ariel who was hovering over her injured father.

"And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear"

Ariel shook her head frantically.

"Ursula, no! I didn't want this!"

"Why not?" Ursula asked.

"Aren't you tired of following your dear daddy's orders?"

She smirked evilly.

"Oh, yes. We had a deal, didn't we?" She asked.

"Time for a little journey- to the dark world of the heartless!"

Flotsam and Jetsam looked around the throne room.

"We cannot find the keyhole" Jetsam said.

"The keyhole is not here"

"What?" Ursula cried.

She spotted the four heroes swimming towards them.

"Why, we have company. But I'm afraid they're a little late"

She disappeared in a mass of ink with the trident in hand.

Sora and the others looked confused.

Ariel turned to her father.

"Daddy"

"The trident" Triton said weakly.

"We must get it back"

Sora looked at the others.

"Come on, let's go!"

They all nodded.

They all went to leave, but Ariel stopped them.

"Wait, I'm coming with you. My father is hurt and it's all my fault" she said.

"I have to stop Ursula!"

Sora nodded, letting her know it was ok.

"That's right. I'm right behind you, Ariel" Sebastian said.

"Ursula draws powers from her cauldron" Triton warned.

"To defeat Ursula, you must strike her cauldron with magic"

Hikari smirked.

"That shouldn't be a problem for us, right Donald?"

The magician nodded.

"Ursula's lair should be somewhere near that sunken ship" Sebastian said.

"I'll show you where it's at"

They left the palace to find Ursula.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sebastian lead them back to the sunken ship area. They checked to make sure that the shark wasn't around.

"I don't think it will bother us after what Hikari did to it" Goofy said.

Hikari blushed.

"I hate sharks" she said.

They swam down to the floor of the area and found a strange looking rocks sticking out. It had a strange symbol etched into it with what appeared t be a huge fish.

"This must be it" Sora said.

They tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Allow me" Sebastian said.

He swam into the nook of the rock and pushed a button that only he could reach.

The rock moved out of the way, to reveal the pathway to Ursula's lair.

"Alright guys, let's give that witch what she deserves" Hikari said.

They swam through and went into the dark pathway that lead to Ursula's lair.

Hikari wasn't even that afraid, she was so focused on defeating Ursula.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They made it to Ursula's lair in no time.

The sea witch must have been expecting them since she was sitting on her lair.

"Come out! You can't win!" Donald cried.

"You time has come!" Sebastian added.

Ursula had a very scary glare on her face when she came out. It was so scary that it made Donald and Sebastian scream.

Sora and Hikari pulled out their keyblades.

"You, Goofy and Ariel take care of her" Hikari said.

"Donald and I will take care of the cauldron"

Sora nodded and went into action while Hikari grabbed Donald and swam to the cauldron.

They made sure they weren't seen by Ursula or her eels before they went into action.

"Cast as many spells as you can" Hikari said.

"I'll do my share and keep those eels away from us"

Donald nodded and went into action.

The cauldron seemed to give them clues as to which spells they should use. If it glowed red, then they would cast fire. If it turned blue, they used blizzard. If it was yellow, then that meant thunder.

They kept repeating this pattern until the caldron would back fire and knock Ursula out.

When she was out, they swam and started attacking her. They didn't get to do much damage since her pesky eels kept getting in the way.

Donald cast thunder on Flotsam when he went to bite Hikari.

"Get back!"

Hikari thanked him and bashed Jetsam in the mouth.

"Go bug someone else!"

When Ursula regained conscience again, she started attacking.

Hikari pulled Donald out of the way just as the witch started spinning like a top.

They went back to firing spells at the cauldron and stayed out of the way while Ursula was fighting.

The fight went on for a bit before they finally managed to destroy the cauldron. Flotsam and Jetsam were destroyed as well from the fight and floated up to the surface in little pieces.

Ursula panicked. Her henchmen were destroyed and she lost her defense.

Sora and Hikari faced her.

"You'll pay for this!"

She fled away.

"Let's go!" Ariel said.

"We must get the trident back!"

"Don't worry, we will" Goofy said.

They swam out of Ursula's lair and went back out to the sunken ship.

"Where could she have gone?" Ariel said.

Hikari looked at her pendant.

It helped them find Riku last time; maybe it would help them this time.

"Please…help us find Ursula"

Her pendant glowed and shot out a beam of light to where they had to go.

"Follow the light" Hikari said.

"It knows where to go"

They went towards the path that her pendant gave her.

Hikari looked at it as they swam.

"_You really are filled with wonders"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The beam of light lead them to some open area. There was nothing but endless sea.

Ursula suddenly appeared before them with the trident in her possession.

"You pathetic fools! I rule the seas now!"

She raised the trident and cast its power on her.

She started to grow huge to the point where she nearly took up the entire area.

"The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!"

Everyone swam out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by her giant tentacles.

Hikari didn't know what to do. She had never fought someone of this size.

She tried to think of what would be the easiest way to fight Ursula.

They had to swim out of the way to avoid getting hit by her spells. Whenever they moved, she would turn around and follow them. She never revealed her back side to them.

That's when it occurred to her. Her back side was her weak spot. They could somehow get behind her, then they could do some serious damage to her.

She dodge and bolt of lightning that was aimed for her.

She had to get behind Ursula somehow without her noticing. She had to be really fast so she wouldn't get caught.

She looked at Sora and Goofy. They really weren't the fastest when it came to swimming, so maybe they could distract her.

She swam up to Sora and told him her plan.

"Can you distract Ursula while Ariel, Donald and I attack her from her back? That's her weak spot and we can swim there really quick. I just need you and Goofy to attack her from the front so she doesn't see us"

Sora nodded and told Goofy the plan.

Hikari turned to Ariel and Donald.

"Let's go!"

They quickly swam behind the sea witch while Sora and Goofy attacked her face.

"If you see them pass out, heal as quickly as you can" she told them.

They got to her neck.

"Alright, let's do this"

They started attacking her while keeping out of Ursula's line of sight. It was pretty hard since she would turn around to see who was attacking her. They would grab onto her hair when she moved so they wouldn't have to swim around her.

"Don't worry! We almost go her" Sora shouted.

They all kept attacking until they finally managed to defeat Ursula.

The sea witch went up in a cloud of black ink. She screamed in agony as she met her doom, leaving the trident behind.

A piece of paper floated up from the ink mass.

Hikari picked it up and read it over.

"It's another piece to Ansem's report!" She cheered.

Ariel grabbed the trident.

"Let's bring this back to my father" she said.

They all left the area and went back to return the trident to its rightful owner.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ariel looked at her father sadly when they returned to the palace.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry" she said.

"Please don't be angry with her" Sora said.

King Triton shook his head.

"It's my fault." He said

" You followed Ursula…I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when I found that crystal, I lost my temper and destroyed it"

"Why did you destroy it?" Hikari asked.

"That crystal held the power to reveal the keyhole" Triton said.

"The keyhole is dangerous. I had to keep you away from it at any cost"

"Daddy" Ariel said.

Triton looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Key bearers, I have one more request: Seal the keyhole. My trident also holds the power to reveal the keyhole. Will you do it?"

Sora nodded.

"Of course"

"That's what we had in mind from the beginning, your majesty" Hikari added.

"Where's the keyhole, daddy?" Ariel asked.

"You should know better than anyone" Triton said.

"It's in your grotto"

Hikari looked at Sora.

"Let's go then, Sora"

They swam out of the palace and headed for Ariel's grotto.

Since Ursula was gone, there weren't any heartless.

"That's good. I don't think I would be able to fight anymore" Sora said.

They headed back to Ariel's grotto and went inside.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ariel held the trident up to the symbol that was on the way.

They symbol glowed and revealed the keyhole to them.

Sora and Hikari drew out their keyblades and sealed the Keyhole to Atlantica. When they heard a click, they knew they were done.

Ariel went up to them.

"Tell me, Sora, Hikari. Your world, what's it like?"

Sora rubbed her head nervously.

"Oh, about that….sorry for lying to you"

Ariel grinned.

"It's ok"

She swam up a little.

"Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can too. So many places I want to see….I know I'll get there someday"

Hikari grinned.

"You'll find a way" she said.

Sebastian sighed.

"Well, if you find it, do me a favor and leave me out of it"

Hikari giggled.

She looked around the grotto for a moment before something caught her eye.

She found a piece of paper sticking out on one of the shelves. Thinking it was a piece of Ansem's report, she examined it, but found out it was a missing page to Merlin's book.

She looked around to see if Ariel was looking. She knew it was wrong to take something from her grotto, but this belong to Merlin.

She didn't know where to put it since she didn't have any pockets. She thought about stuffing it into her clam bra, but it wasn't big enough to conceal it.

"_Curse my small chest!"_

She looked at Goofy and had an idea.

"Hey Goofy" She whispered.

The knight came up to her.

"What's up?"

"I found a page to Merlin's book, but I don't Ariel to think I'm stealing it. Can I stuff it in your shell until we get back to the Gummi ship?"

Goofy nodded.

"Tuck it on in"

She smiled.

"Thanks" She stuffed it into his shell before going back to Ariel.

"Are you guys leaving?" she asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, we have other worlds to seal up"

They bit their farewells before going back to the Gummi ship.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Once everyone got back on the Gummi ship, they were reverted back to their normal selves. Since they had their regular bodies back, that mean they were sore from all of their swimming.

"Ow! My back!" Sora cried.

Everyone was on the floor in pain.

"My whole body is sore!" Hikari whimpered.

Jiminy had to put icy hot patches on everyone to ease the pain.

It took them nearly a half hour to get back in their seats before they went off to their next world.

Needless to say, that was how their time in Atlantica ended.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: There you have it. I'm sure you know which world is coming up next! If you guys have any ideas for Hikari's costume, I would love to hear them! **

**Please send me your reviews and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	17. Halloween Town

Chapter 17: Halloween Town

**A/N: Hey! We're now on my favorite world from this game! Thanks for all of the idea on Hikari's outfit Witchgirl590. That helped me a lot.**

**Here's the next poll: Who do you think is that person Hikari is always hearing?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I do own Hikari and Taiyouko**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After tending to their sore bodies, everyone was ready to head for their next world.

"If we land on a world where we have to change our bodies again, I'm going to break something" Hikari said.

She read the Ansem report that she got from defeating Ursula.

"Have you figured out what the report said?" Donald asked.

She nodded.

"This what I've got"

"_The shadows that crawl beneath the castle…are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? _

_Or something entirely beyond my imagination?_

_All my knowledge has provided no answer. _

_One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. _

_Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. _

_Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. _

_They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. _

_They still need a name._

_Those who lack hearts….I will call them heartless."_

Hikari looked up from the report.

"Well, that explains how they got their name" she said.

"Was there more on the back?" Sora asked.

Hikari flipped it over.

"Yep, there is"

"What does it say?"

She read the rest of the report.

"_The heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly._

_I've provided them both living and non living samples. _

_They've responded to the living. _

_They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures._

_Their prey vanish without a trace. _

_I believe the heartless are taking hearts._

_They're born from those who've lost hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others._

_The hearts taken by the heartless become heartless themselves. _

_Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. _

_I must also study their behavioral principles._

_Thought they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. _

_How to communicate with them?_

_It just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?"_

Hikari sighed.

She really didn't know what this report meant. Was this report saying that he had found a way to control the heartless.

Images of that man that she had seen in her memories.

They were all about him talking about how he was going to understand the powers of the heart and how it worked.

It finally dawned on her that this man must have been Ansem.

"_No wonder why mom was so mad with him and why Ni-san hated him" _She thought.

"_It was because of the experiments that he was doing and what it created"_

So it was because of him that the heartless were created. And thanks to him, Maleficent used them to take over her world.

"_Now that my memories are coming back to me, I can finally understand my past. I have a mother who is a powerful sorceress. The man who ruled my world created the heartless. And somehow, I have a connection to all of this, but what is it? Why am I so important to all of this?"_

She held her head in frustration.

Just when she put together a part of her past, she came up with another problem. It was like a never ending puzzle to her.

"_This is so annoying. I have the power to see people's memories, yet I can't even remember my own. Is this a side effect to my powers? ….or did someone block them for me?"_

She never thought that someone would block her memories from her.

Maybe something happened in her past that she wasn't supposed to know about?

She rubbed her temples in frustration.

She was going to figure out the rest of her past sooner or later.

"_I've gotten this far, haven't I? I've come too far to quit now"_

With that thought in mind, she became confident with herself.

"_I know I'll find the answers to my past. I just know it"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next world that they arrived to looked like something from a horror film.

Everything was all dark and spooky and the area gave off this creepy vibe. The atmosphere alone made Hikari scared. She didn't mind the scenery, but the fact that this area was all dark just make her shake in her boots.

This world was so different, that even their outfits changed.

They were glad that they didn't have to turn into any type of animals, but they looked like they were wearing costumes.

Goofy looked like Frankenstein with a giant screw coming out of his head to represent his hat.

Donald was wrapped up like a mummy with the middle part of his body missing.

Sora looked like a vampire with small bat wings coming from his back and had a pumpkin mask covering the right side of his face.

Hikari was dressed up as some sort of witch with a black dress that was torn up and reached her knees. The sleeves feel off her shoulders and were torn to her elbows. She wore black fingerless gloves with black nail polish on her fingers. She had black and purple stockings and wore black high heeled boots that were partly unlaced open. Her hair was slightly frazzled with a few purple streaks in it and her ribbon took on a darker color and was slightly frayed. And to top it all off, she wore very dark makeup that made her green eyes stand out drastically and had black lipstick on.

Hikari looked at herself and sighed.

"If my brother saw me in this, he would have a heart attack"

"But you look very cute, Hikari" Goofy said.

Hikari smiled.

"Aww, thank you Goofy"

They all looked at the scenery before them.

"This sure is a spooky place" Goofy said.

"I'll bet the people are scary-lookin' too"

"Don't worry. We look spooky too" Donald said.

"If they scare us, we'll scare them right back!"

"Easy for you to say" Hikari said.

They walked to what was called the Guillotine Square.

"This place gives me the creeps" Hikari said to herself.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When they arrived at the square, they found a bunch of heartless floated around the area.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and braced themselves for an attack from them. When they didn't attack them, they lowered their weapons slightly.

Hikari went up to one and poked it. When it didn't do anything about it, she shrugged.

"I don't think we have to worry about them" She said.

"They're not fighting back"

Sora scratched his head.

"I wonder what's up with them."

Just then a stout mayor with two faces came out. He held out a megaphone and spoke through it.

"And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, this king of nightmares- Jack Skellington!"

Just then, a tall skeleton wearing a black macabre suit with white stripes running down it.

The mayor clapped as he approached Jack.

"Bravo, Jack! Bravo!" he said.

"Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!"

Jack walked up to him.

"Thank you, thank you" he said.

"But their movements still needs work. It's not scary enough. I want to strike bone chilling terror. I'm going to consult the doctor"

He walked off to where this so called doctor was.

"Then I'll go attend the decorations" the mayor said as he left.

Sora looked at the others.

"Should we follow that skeleton?" he asked.

Hikari shrugged.

"It sounds like a good idea. I want to know what he plans on doing with those heartless"

They ran to the lab where they saw Jack go to.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Jack and the doctor were standing over an examining table with a heartless laying on it.

They were trying to figure out why the heartless weren't acting the way that they wanted them to.

"I don't understand" Jack said.

"Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion"

The doctor shook his head.

"Nonsense. My devises are always perfect!"

Jack looked through a book that contained the layout plans to the doctor's latest experiments.

"Oh! I've got it!"

He pointed to something in the book.

"Why, of course! The heartless need a heart!"

He looked at the doctor.

"Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?"

The doctor nodded as he moved his electronic chair to the book.

"Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated. Let's get to work"

Jack read the list in the book.

"To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…"

The doctor pulled out a device that looked like a beating heart with a keyhole in it.

"We need the key to this thing first" the doctor said.

They didn't realize that Sora and the others were listening to their conversation this whole time.

Donald looked at Sora strangely.

He offered to unlock the container for them.

"You're really gonna unlock it for them?"

Sora nodded.

"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the heartless, right?" he said.

"Besides, I want to see the heartless dance, too. Don't you?"

"Not really" Hikari said.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sora unlocked the container for them.

Jack looked amazed.

"My! That was amazing!"

He looked at the others.

"Uh, and you are?"

"Sora"

"I'm Hikari"

"Donald Duck"

"The name's Goofy"

Jack went up to them.

"Well done, Sora!" he said.

"I'd like you to be a part of this year's Halloween"

Hikari looked at the heartless on the table.

"What's this heartless doing here?" she asked.

"Oh, the heartless just came to town just recently" Jack said.

"What's frustrating is I can't get them to dance with me. So, the doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius"

He went up to Doctor Finkelstein.

"Ok, doctor. Let's continue"

Doctor Finkelstein looked at the book.

"The ingredients for a heart: pulse, emotion, terror, fear, hope and despair. Mix them all together and we have a heart!"

Hikari looked skeptical.

She highly doubted a heart was that simple to make.

"_The heart is one of the greatest mysteries of life" _the voice said.

The doctor took the container and placed it on a device that was attached to the heartless.

He pulled the level and sent the 'heart's' energy through the heartless.

The heartless responded to it by sitting up, but then it flopped back on the table.

"It failed!" the doctor cried.

He went back to the book and relooked it.

"Maybe we're missing some ingredients" he said.

"Let's try adding memory"

Hikari snorted at that. Adding memory to something wasn't that simple, she of all people knew that.

"Sally! Sally!"

The doctor looked around the lab for the girl.

When he saw that she was nowhere to be found, he slammed his fists.

"Good-for-nothing girl! Don't know why I bothered creating her!"

He looked at Jack.

"Sally's got the missing memory we need. See if you can track her down"

"No problem"

He turned to Sora and Hikari.

"Sora, Hikari, would you like to come along?"

"Sure"

They didn't want to stick around in the doctor's lab. For all they knew, he would experiment on them.

They left the lab and went back to the square.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The mayor was running around with his upset face on.

"Jack! Jack! We have a major crisis!"

They ran up to him.

"What's wrong?"

"The heartless are completely out of control!" the mayor cried.

"We can't stop them!"

Jack rubbed his head.

"Maybe our experiment triggered something?" he said.

"Everything will be fine, Mayor. You have nothing to worry about"

Hikari rolled her eyes.

Obviously, he didn't know how the heartless reacted.

They went to the square and saw the heartless causing havoc.

"Looks like their acting normal" Hikari said as she drew out her weapon.

They attacked the heartless that were around the square.

Hikari zapped them with her magic with the help of Jack. The ghost kind were a bit of a problem since they like to disappear and reappear in random places.

When they were all gone, they decided to check the other places that might be infested with heartless.

They walked to the graveyard and looked around.

"Let's check this place too, once the heartless here are out of our way" Sora said.

They cleared the heartless out of the area before they looked around.

A giant stoned casket stood in the back of the area and there were statues all over the place.

There was also a dog house grave that had the name Zero on it. A ghost like dog with a glowing nose floated out from it.

"Aww, what a cutie!" Hikari cried.

Jack went up to his pet.

"Zero, have you seen Sally anywhere?"

The dog nodded and flew towards a statue where someone was hiding.

A rag doll like girl stood up and faced the group.

"Is something wrong, Jack?" Sally asked.

"No, everything's going great" Jack said.

"We're going to have the best Halloween ever. All we need now, is your memory"

Sally held up some Forget-Me-Nots.

"'Memory'? You mean this?"

She gave them to Jack.

"Jack, I have a bad feeling about this" Sally said.

"Why don't you try something else? There's still time"

"Nothing could be what I've got planned" Jack said.

"Once we give the heartless a heart, they'll dance just as I envision it"

Sally didn't look please.

"Trust me. You're going to love it"

Sally didn't say anything.

They all went back to the lab to see if the memory would work on the heartless.

As they left, they failed to hear a trio of laughter coming from the casket in the back.

The lid lifted up to reveal three children jumping out. All of them were dressed up as a devil, a witch and a skeleton.

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!"

They had eavesdropped on Jack's conversation.

"Did you hear that?" Shock asked.

Lock nodded.

"Yeah, I sure did! A heart! What should we do?"

"Gosh, you really are stupid! Isn't it obvious?" Shock said.

"Tell Oogie Boogie!" Barrel said.

They all laughed at the idea.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back at the lab, Jack had handed the Doctor the memory.

"Yes. This is it" he said.

"Now, just one more ingredient. We need 'surprise' to complete the heart. The Mayor should know where it is"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back with Lock, Shock and Barrel. The three children were facing their boss, Oogie Boogie.

They trembled in fear as they looked at the giant burlap bag creature. They had told them about the heart and what Jack was going to use it for.

Oogie laughed at the idea.

"A heart?" he asked.

"That bonehead Jack is really making a heart? I'll be jiggered! That works for me!"

He rubbed his hands in anticipation.

"Ohh, when I get my hands on that…well, I've got no hands, but I'm still gonna nab that heart and control the heartless"

He laughed wickedly at his idea.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back with the heroes, they left the lab to find the Mayor. They couldn't find him in the square, so they decided to look around the cemetery.

They didn't seem him anywhere, but they found a pathway from within the casket in the back. They went through it and found themselves within another part of the cemetery.

They found the mayor standing near a set of tombstones.

Jack went up to him and told them they needed his 'surprise'.

The Mayor agreed to give it to them, only if they could crack the clue to the tombstones.

"Ghosts rise from those tombstones" he said.

"Check the tombstones in the order that the ghosts appear. If you get it wrong, you'll be in for a big surprise"

Hikari offered to do it, since she more observant that Sora. She hit the tombstones in the order that the ghosts appeared and retrieved that 'Jack-in-the-box' from the Mayor.

"Let's get this back to the Doctor, shall we?" Jack said.

They left the cemetery and went back to the doctor's lab.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Doctor Finkelstein added all of the ingredients to the heart.

"There you go. This time it's sure to work"

He went to put the heart back on the device. As he moved his wheelchair, Barrel slid from under the table and tripped him over.

The doctor fell out of his chair and sent the heart flying.

Lock caught it and ran away with it along with Shock and Barrel.

"What the heck?" Hikari asked.

The Doctor managed to get back in his chair.

"The nerve of those little hooligans, stealing my work!"

They ran out of the lab to see if they could chase them.

When they got to the square, they couldn't find them at all.

"We lost them" Sora said.

Jack summoned Zero to him. The ghost dog appeared next to him.

"Zero, after them, quick!"

Zero flew after the children with the others hot on their trail.

They saw the trio going up Spiral Hill and a walking bathtub.

"I've seen it all" Hikari said.

"A walking bathtub"

They ran to the cemetery and headed for Spiral Hill. They ran into a couple of heartless and destroyed them along the way.

When they got to Spiral Hill, the hill unwound for them and made a bridge for them to get on the other side.

"That's pretty convenient" Hikari said.

They walked across the hill and went to a bridge that lead to the trio's hideout.

"Why would a bunch of kids want to steal a heart?" Hikari asked.

"Who knows" Sora said.

They went across the bridge and followed the kids to their secret hideout.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The secret hideout what pretty amazing. It was so huge that they had to have stairs going up to it.

"_This puts tree houses to shame" _Hikari thought.

They watched as Lock, Shock and Barrel went across the bridge in their bathtub.

"I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this!" Jack said.

They ran across the bridge carefully since some parts were missing. Once they stepped foot on the tree house, they were greeted by heartless.

"They must be using them so we can't get the heart" Sora said.

They attacked the heartless and ran up the stairs to the top of the house.

"How can a bunch of kids make something like this?" Hikari asked.

They ran up the stairs and made it to the evil play room.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Just as they entered the play room, Lock, Shock and Barrel had already sent the heart to Oogie Boogie.

"Time to put you kids into time out" Hikari said.

The kids put up a fight. They were a lot quicker and smarter than they took them for. Shock liked to spin as a top and ram herself into everyone that she passed while Lock liked to jump on everyone and Barrel rammed himself into everyone like a bull. Sora and Hikari used their Sonic Blade moved and just impaled them with their keys.

Eventually, the kids ran out of juice and were cornered by the others.

"We were just following orders!" Shock said.

"Oogie Boogie told us to steal the heart"

"It's all Barrel's fault" Lock said.

"It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the heart"

"B-but you guys said-"

"You should be ashamed!" Shock said.

Sora looked at the kids.

"What should w do with them?"

"I don't think they'll do anything else" Hikari said.

"They've been punished already. Let's just find this Oogie Boogie guy and get that heart back"

Shock smirked.

"You'll never find the green door! The one that's at the foot of the tree house!"

She quickly covered her mouth when she realized that she gave Oogie's hiding spot away.

"Thanks, now we won't have any trouble finding it" Hikari said.

They left the little brats in their evil playroom and climbed down to the foot of the house.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They reached the green door that was at the bottom of the tree house. Oogie's face was etched into it so they knew they were at the right place.

"Alright, let's go get that stupid heart back" Hikari said.

They ran into a room that looked like some creepy casino. Oogie stood up on a ledge with the heart in his hand.

"Oogie Boogie, give me back that heart!" Jack said.

Oogie just waved it in his hands.

"You want it? Well, then come on over and get it!"

He swallowed the whole thing.

"Ew" Hikari said.

Oogie laughed wickedly.

"Now, let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, heartless!"

Only two heartless appeared.

"This is it?" Oogie asked.

He suddenly grew angry.

"Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!"

Everyone was thrown into the casino ring. Hikari looked around the area and saw that there were really sharp weapons lining the walls.

"This can't be good"

She jumped out of the way when Oogie threw exploding dice at her. She watched as he scampered around the area and threw dice at them.

Nobody could really hit him since he was up on the ledge and they were stuck in the casino area. Casting spells really didn't help either since he would move around.

Hikari didn't know what to do.

"_Look at the ground" _the voice said.

Hikari was puzzled but she did anyway. There, she notice a couple of switches on the ground. They seemed to be glowing.

"_Step on the one that is closest to Oogie" _

It the occurred to her that these were switches that brought anyone up to the upper level.

She grabbed Sora's hand and dragged him to the switch that Oogie was closest to.

She stomped her foot on it and the platform that they were on lifted them to Oogie.

The burlap bag couldn't get away due to the fact that when Hikari hit the switch, she activated a cage on the upper level so he wouldn't get away.

They both attacked Oogie until he threw them back into the casino.

They repeated this routine until they finally managed to defeat Oogie.

The burlap bag had a hole in his side, which caused all of the bugs that made his body fall out.

Hikari made a face at the sight of the bug.

When the bugs were gone, all that was left of Oogie was his bag.

Hikari even managed to find the next part to Ansem's report.

"I'll take that"

She stuffed the page into her dress top since she didn't have any pockets to her outfit.

Jack sighed.

"So that heart was a failure after all"

"Let's just go" Sora said.

"We have nothing left here"

They left Oogie's lair and proceeded to leave the tree house.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When they walked off the bridge that was connected to the tree house, the whole area shook.

"What's going on?" Hikari cried.

They looked back at the tree house to see that Oogie had somehow merged his body with the house.

"Whoa! How did he get so big?" Sora cried.

They spotted black sphere on his body.

"Look! It's brimming with the power of darkness!" Hikari said.

"He's drawing power from those dark globs!"

"So we just have to destroy those things, right?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded.

They jumped to the ground and landed in front of the Oogie mansion.

Hikari ran up the set of stairs that was connected to the ground and got to the upper levels. She attacked the nearest glob with her keyblade and watched as it disappeared.

"That's one down"

She looked at Sora to see him on a higher level and got rid of his glob.

She ran up to the next level and caught up with Goofy. He was trying to get rid of his glob, but he wasn't having much luck.

"Let me help!"

She used her magic on it to zap it away.

"Thanks" Goofy said.

They ran to the top and caught up with Sora, Donald and Jack fighting with the last glob.

Since this was last one, it was the largest. They all fought together to destroy the last glob. When it was finally gone, the house broke down and turned the area into a waste land.

They even learned the gravity spell.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The keyhole was located underneath the tree house. Since it no longer stood over it, Sora and Hikari were able to seal Halloween Town's keyhole.

"Well, that's one less world to worry about" Hikari.

"Let's go back to the doctor to tell him that this oh so wonderful experiment failed"

They left the waste land and headed back to the doctor's lab.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Sally, why didn't I listen to you before?" Jack asked.

It seemed that she was right about the heartless dance being a bad thing.

"Don't feel bad, Jack" Sally said.

"We'll come up with another plan for Halloween"

She held his hands.

"Next time, we'll do it together"

Hikari gushed over the scene, she thought it was so romantic. It reminded her of Riku. Thinking about him suddenly made her frown. She was still upset over the whole thing back in Monstro. She didn't know what to think about him. He was so different to what he usually was. Was he that steeped in darkness? She hope not. She learned from her travels that nothing good comes from the power of Darkness, it just destroys everything within its path. She hoped Riku wasn't going to end up the same way.

"_There's still hope, child" _The voice said.

"_As long as there's still a glimmer of light in his heart, he can be saved"_

She hoped so. It would break her heart if anything happened to Riku.

Jack looked at the group.

"I guess we have no choice" he said.

"We'll have to cancel the heartless Halloween festival for now"

Doctor Finkelstein looked at the book.

"Emotion, memory…we put in all the necessary ingredients. What else do you need to make a heart?"

He looked at them.

"What is a heart anyway? I can't figure it out"

"Of course you can't. No one knows the full extent of the heart" Hikari said.

"The heart is such a complicated thing, that not even a genius such as you could understand. Each one is far different to the next. No matter how much you study it, there's always something new that's added to it. It's one of life's greatest mysteries"

The doctor just scoffed and went back to his work.

"We should probably be going" Sora said.

"Feel free to come back any time" Jack said.

As they were leaving, Hikari found the last page to Merlin's book. She snatched it when no one was watching and stashed it away.

"_At least I got the pages back. Now I just have to return them to Merlin"_

They headed back to the Gummi. Hikari was sad that she wouldn't be able to dress up like this after they left this world, she was starting to get attached to her outfit.

As they stepped into the ship, a stabbing pain shot through her heart.

She grabbed her chest and waited until the pain was gone.

She looked at herself in wonder.

"_What the heck was that just now?" _

She couldn't help but think that something bad was about to happen.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: I'm sad we had to leave that world, I liked Hikari's outfit. I'm sure you all know what's going to happen next. Hikari is not going to be happy to see someone, even though she's deeply in love with that person. **

**Remember to review and tell me what you think.**

**JA ne**


	18. Neverland

Chapter 18: Neverland

**A/N: I'm sure everyone is dreading this next chapter, but also looking forward to it. What is Hikari going to do now that Riku has allied himself with the heartless? It's going to break her heart into a million pieces. At least she's a strong chick.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own Hikari and Taiyouko**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!"**

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Hey, could we stop at Traverse Town? I want to drop these pages off at Merlin's" Hikari said.

"You mean you bothered to find those pages?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, and I've collected Ansem's report while you've done nothing"

Sora stomped his foot.

"Hey! I've been fighting Heartless and sealing up keyholes!"

"That's just it. I've been doing that too and collecting stuff that we were supposed to do. Who's taking their role as a keyblade master more seriously now?"

Sora just pouted.

"What's the Ansem's report say now?" Goofy asked.

Hikari read it out loud.

"_To study the heartless behavior, I've picked one out for observation. _

_It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle._

_In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. _

_Suddenly, a strange door appeared._

_I'd never known of its existence._

_It had a large keyhole, but it didn't seem to be locked. _

_So I opened the door. _

_What I saw on the other side mystified me. _

_What was that mass powerful mass of energy?_

_That night that I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. _

_Could it be related to that door that I have opened?"_

"He must have been talking about the heart to my world" Hikari said.

"From the way that he described it, there's no doubt about it"

She flipped over the page and read the rest.

"_A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the heartless._

_It may be the ultimate goal of the heartless._

_But what is that energy?_

_I have devised a hypothesis, based on my observations of the heartless. _

_The heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core._

_That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too- the heart to this world. _

_There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. _

_That was the heart of this world._

_The heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. _

_But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?"_

Hikari looked up from the report. She really didn't understand all of this. Perhaps her brother would know what Ansem was talking about.

"_It's a good thing that we're seeing Ni-san. I need a hug from him"_

Goofy looked out the window and noticed that something was following them.

"Uh, a big ship is catching up to us"

Sora and Hikari looked out the window to see that there indeed was a ship chasing them, a pirate ship.

"Quit gawking! That's a pirate ship!" Donald said.

This ship got in front of them and aimed straight towards them.

"It's going to ram into us!" Sora cried.

"Hold on tight!"

They all braced themselves and landed on the pirate ship.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sora and Hikari landed on the main deck of the ship. Goofy and Donald were nowhere to be found.

"Donald! Goofy!" Hikari cried.

She walked around the ship to see if she could find them.

"Where are you?"

Sora looked around as well.

"I didn't you'd come, Sora, Hikari"

Hikari froze when she heard that voice.

Slowly, she turned around to see Riku standing on the upper deck of the ship. He had a cold look on his face as he looked at them.

He smirked darkly.

"Good to see you again"

"Riku" Hikari said weakly.

She went to go up to him, but she stopped herself.

Something about him set alarms off in her head and she knew something was wrong with him.

"What's the matter, Hikari? Aren't you happy to see me?"

Hikari didn't say anything and looked away.

"I'll take that as a no then"

Sora walked up to her and stood in front of her protectively.

"Where are Donald and Goofy?"

Riku just glared at him.

"Are they that important to you?" he asked.

"More important than old friends?"

Hikari looked at him.

She thought it was ridiculous that he was mad that Sora had other friends besides him.

"You can have more than just one friend, Riku"

He just glared at her coldly, which made her sink further behind Sora. This wasn't the Riku that she had fallen in love with. This was a completely stranger.

"Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking…about her"

He stepped to the side to reveal Kairi. She sat there with a dazed look on her face.

"Kairi!" they shouted.

"That's right. While you were off goofing around and making Hikari your girl, I finally found her"

Hikari grew confused.

He thought that she and Sora were a couple? There was no way that could happen! Sora was like a brother to her.

Sora went to run up to Kairi, but Captain Hook stopped him.

"Not so fast" he said.

"No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy"

Heartless surrounded them.

"Riku, why are you siding with the heartless?" Sora asked.

"The heartless obey me now, Sora" Riku said.

"Now I have nothing to fear"

This was Hikari's worst nightmare. It was bad enough that he was siding with Maleficent, but now with the heartless? His heart was too drenched in darkness.

"You're so stupid!" She shouted at him.

"Sooner or later they'll swallow you're heart"

She knew that all too well from her travels.

Riku just looked at her darkly.

"Not a chance. My heart's too strong"

Hikari looked at him sadly.

"Riku…"

"I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this for instance"

He created a dark version of herself and Sora.

Hikari nearly screamed and back away from it as far as possible.

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark, Hikari?" Riku scoffed.

Hikari looked at him hurtfully. He knew that she was terrified of the dark and he supported her. He always made sure she was in areas that were filled with light, or at least used to.

She couldn't believe that this was the same Riku that she had fallen in love with. Was his heart that drenched in darkness that he couldn't see what he was going was wrong? Was he so blind to see that she was deeply in love with him?

"Are you that blind by your own hatred?" Hikari asked.

"Can't you see that the darkness won't help you at all? It's just using you until you're so drenched within it that it'll eat you away. Don't do this Riku! You're better than that!"

Riku didn't listen to her and just waved them off.

"You can go see your friends now"

The heartless pushed her and Sora through a trap door.

Hikari struggled as they tried to push her through.

"No, Riku! Can't you see? My heart belongs to you! It always has!"

She couldn't tell him that she loved him right now. He was so clouded by the darkness that she doubted he would believe her. So she gave him a hint to show that she really did love him and that she was never with Sora.

The heartless pushed her through the hole.

Riku looked at Hook.

"Let's get underway, already" he said.

"And keep Sora and Hikari away from Kairi until we're ready to land"

He walked away and left Hook with his right hand man, Smee.

"That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around!" Hook barked.

"What shall we do, Captain Hook?" Smee asked.

"Nothing! The hold is crawling with heartless. Let them keep an eye on the brats"

Smee didn't look happy.

"But Captain, you-know-who is also down-"

Hook shushed him.

"Sh! Did you hear that, Smee? Oh, that dreadful sound!"

"No Captain"

Hook grabbed his shoulders.

"Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it? Oh, my poor nerves"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"You don't say?" Goofy asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, it was definitely Kairi. I've finally found her"

"All right! Then let's go up and talk to her"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds great" Donald said.

"But first…how about getting off!"

Everyone got out of the pile that they landed on and stood up.

Hikari didn't say anything at all; her mind was on complete shutdown.

Why was Riku like this? What had happened to him?

She felt tears pool up her eyes.

"_Was I too late? Is there no way for me to express my feelings to him?"_

Sora grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Hey, cheer up, Hikari. We finally found Kairi!"

He knew that she was upset about Riku, so he decided to take her mind off of him.

"I'm sure you want to tell her everything that we've gone through"

Hikari wiped her eyes.

She figured thinking about Riku wasn't the best thing right now. Sora was right, they did find Kairi. She was so worried about her. She was glad that she was alright.

She gave Sora a small smile.

"Yeah. We should probably get her away from those nasty pirates"

Sora nodded.

"Then let's go save her"

They walked through the ship to find a way out. As they did, they heard someone.

"How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?"

A young man how had orange hair and an all green outfit jumped out from behind a set of barrels.

"Who are you?" Goofy asked.

"I'm the answer to your prayers " the guy said.

They all looked at him doubtfully.

"Ok then, fine. Have it your way"

"But you're stuck in here too, aren't you?" Hikari asked.

The man shook his head.

"No. I'm just waiting for someone" he said.

"Who?"

Just then a glowing ball of light floated around them and floated next to the man.

"Tinker Bell, what took you so long?"

The light faded away to reveal a tiny fairy.

"Good job. So you found Wendy?"

The fairy spoke to him in his own language.

"Hold on. There was another girl there, too?"

That had to be Kairi.

The fairy protested about something.

"Are you crazy? There's no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there! "

"Aha. She must be pretty jealous" Donald said.

Tinker Bell went up to him and kicked him in the face before flying off.

"Come on, Tink! Open up the door!" the man said.

Sora cleared his throat to grab his attention.

He got the hint that they wanted an introduction.

"I'm Peter Pan"

"I'm Sora"

"Hikari"

Sora went to shake hands with Peter but he pulled away.

"Ok, we're in this together, but only until we find Wendy" Peter said.

"Whatever" Hikari said.

They walked through the ship and went to find Wendy and Kairi.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They went through the ship and searched for Kairi and Wendy. It was kind of hard, since the whole place was crawling with heartless.

"Riku must be using them so we can't get near Kairi" Sora said.

They went up to the upper level of the ship and searched there. As they walked, Hikari noticed that Peter was flying instead of walking.

"So, uh, how come you can fly?" Goofy asked.

Peter looked at them.

"Anyone can fly? Wanna try?"

He called over Tinker Bell, who was still angry about Wendy.

"Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?"

He picked her up by her wings and sprinkled fairy dust on the group.

"Just a little pixie dust"

He grinned.

"There, now you can fly"

Donald tried to see if he could fly by jumping up and flapping his arms. He only ended up falling flat on his face.

Tinker Bell laughed as she got her revenge.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Captain Hook looked perplexed at Riku.

"What? So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?"

"There are eight, supposedly" Riku said.

"And Maleficent says she's not one of them"

He started to walk off.

"Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all the dead weight behind, including her"

"After the trouble of catching her?" Hook bellowed.

"And why those eight? What is Maleficent planning anyway?"

"Who knows? " Riku said.

"As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less"

"You're wasting your time" Hook said.

"The heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever"

Riku glared at him.

"I will find it, no matter what"

Smee's voice came through the intercom.

"Uh, Captain"

Hook went to it.

"What?"

"The prisoners have escaped" Smee said.

"What's more, Peter Pan is with them"

"Blast that Peter Pan"

"All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee! Hop to it!"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tinker Bell hovered over an opening in the room that everyone was in.

"What is it Tink?" Peter asked.

Wendy, who was on the upper floor, heard Peter's voice.

"Peter? Peter Pan?"

She went to the opening and knelt down to see him.

"Wendy!" Peter cried.

"Please hurry!" Wendy pleaded.

"The pirates are coming!"

"What? I'll be right up there! Just hold on!"

Sora looked up at Wendy.

"Wendy?" he asked.

"Is there another girl in there with you?"

Wendy spotted Kairi sitting near the opening as well.

"Oh, why yes" she said.

"But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch"

Hikari spotted her.

"Kairi?" she called.

"Kairi!" Sora cried.

Kairi's hand slumped to the side.

Sora reached out to her desperately. When he saw her fingers twitch, he smiled hopefully.

"She's alright" Hikari said.

She spoke too soon, for the pirates took her and Wendy away.

"Wendy!" Peter cried.

"Hey, let's get up there!"

They climbed up through the opening to get to the upper level.

They searched through all of the rooms to see if Wendy and Kairi were in them, but they had no such luck.

Hikari spotted at ladder and went up it.

They ended up in the Captain's cabin.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari ran through the cabin and spotted Riku holding Kairi in his arms. The scene hurt her, but she was concerned over Kairi now.

"Riku, wait!" she pleaded.

Riku didn't say anything.

He just stepped back and brought forth the anti version of herself and Sora before disappearing.

Hikari pulled out her keyblade and faced her other self.

Sora fought with his with the help of the others, while Hikari fought with her own.

She used all of the pain and sorrow that she was feeling at this point to become her strength. Her heart ached knowing that Riku cared more about Kairi than he did for her.

"_So he really does love her more than me" _she thought.

All that Sora said was wrong. Riku wasn't himself anymore and it was likely that he never would be again.

She blindly swung at her shadow self, not caring that she was hurting herself in the process. Her other self seemed to like using her hands as claws since she scratched her when she let her guard down. Cuts were all over her body as she fought. She didn't let up until the shadow was destroyed completely.

She breathed heavily and put her keyblade away.

She felt like crying at this point. She wanted to scream her head off in sorrow over the thought that Riku choose Kairi over her. What did he see in Kairi that he didn't see in her.

She bit the inside of her cheeks when she felt tears coming. She wasn't going to break down in front of the others. She came this far without crying so she wasn't going to start now.

Donald healed her injuries when the fight was over.

Peter looked around for Wendy, but couldn't find her.

"She must be below the cabin" he said.

He lifted the hatch and went down with the others following.

They found Wendy knocked out on the ground.

Peter went up to her and lifted her up.

"Wendy!"

Tinker Bell hovered over Peter, but he waved her off.

"Come on, Tink. Not now!"

Tinker bell flew off hurt.

Peter picked Wendy up and looked at the group.

"Well, this is as far as I can go" he said.

"I've gotta help Wendy"

They nodded in understanding and let him go.

They headed for the outside of the ship since they last saw Riku heading out there.

Hikari dug her nails into the palm of her hands. She didn't know how she was going to face Riku.

"_Just pour your whole heart out to him" _the voice said to her.

"_I'm sure he'll understand"_

She scoffed at that.

That voice had told her that a million times and it didn't work. She only got the cold shoulder from Riku and rejection so he could be with Kairi.

"_Just leave me alone" _she said to it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They walked out to find Captain Hook waiting for them.

"Quite a codfish, that Riku- running off with that girl without saying goodbye"

Hikari felt her blood boil.

He ran off with Kairi and just left her behind? That did it for her.

"Run off where? Tell me, where did he go?" she shouted.

She was mad now. She went on this journey to find him and he just decided to replace her with Kairi?

"To the ruins of Hallow Bastion, where Maleficent resides" Hook said.

"But you won't be going there"

He held up a cage that had Tinker Bell in it.

Everyone gasped.

"Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?" Hook asked.

Hikari looked away shamefully. She understood Tinker Bell so well at this point. They both loved someone deeply, but they guy they cared about loved someone else. She couldn't leave her behind.

The heartless surrounded her and the others.

"Hand over the keyblades and I'll spare your lives" Hook said.

"Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the heartless. So, which will it be? They keyblades, or the plank?"

They heard something ticking in the water.

Hook went to see what it was and panicked when he saw a crocodile.

"It's him! The crocodile that took me hand!"

He looked at Smee.

"Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here!"

He ran to his cabin.

"Go away! Oh, I can't stand the sight of him. Smee! You take care of them!"

He ran into his cabin and closed the door.

Hikari and Sora stood on the plank. There was no way that they were going to hand over their keyblades. They had come this far with them and they weren't going to hand them over to a bunch of pirates.

Sora looked at Hikari. He knew that she was really hurting over Riku. He was too, but in a different way. He had lost his best friend.

He gave her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, Hikari"

She smiled sadly at him.

"It's not your fault"

She said.

They slowly backed up to the edge of the plank, where the crocodile was waiting for them.

They were about to jump, when they heard Peter's voice.

"Fly, you guys! Just believe, and you can do it!"

Hikari didn't know what to believe. She doubted that she could fly. If trying to confess her feelings to Riku wouldn't work, then how could she fly.

"_Listen to what he says" _the voice said.

"_True, sometimes things don't always work out the way we want them to, but that doesn't mean we give up. We always try to look for another way to reach our goals. It's like you always say, 'you've come too far to quit now' don't let this change what your beliefs"_

The voice was right. She shouldn't give up now because over some little heartbreak. And she technically didn't tell Riku how she felt. She still had a chance.

She willed herself to believe that she could fly.

"_If I can travel to different worlds, reunite with my older brother and turn into a mermaid, then there has to be a chance that I can fly."_She thought.

She held out her hand to Sora, which he took.

They both jumped off and closed their eyes.

"_I know I can fly, I just know it!"_

She felt her body floating above the crocodile.

She smiled and soared back to the boat while Peter rescued Tinker Bell. She and Sora landed next to Peter while he set Tinker Bell free.

"Thanks, Peter" Sora said.

Peter smirked.

"Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?"

Tinker Bell went up to Hikari and kissed her on the cheek.

Hikari smiled at her.

"We girls need to stick together"

Smee ran off and left them with the heartless.

Since everyone could fly now, it was easier for them to fight. They just flew over them and attacked them without getting hit by them.

They destroyed them quickly and went up the Hook's cabin.

Peter knocked on the door.

"Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?"

Peter snickered and imitated his voice to sound like Smee.

"Aye, Captain. They walked off the plank , every last one of them"

They hid behind the door when he came out so he wouldn't see them.

Peter went up behind them and poked Hook with his dagger. Hook jumped up and spun around to see him.

"P-Peter Pa-blast you!"

"Ready to make a splash , you codfish?" Fish peter asked.

"Now it's your turn to walk the plank!"

Hikari flew out of the way as Hook threw exploding packages at them. She flew up to the crow's nest and launched a set of spells on him while Sora and the other's fought him. She zapped the packages out of the way with thunder and used fire and blizzard on Hook.

When it looked ugly for the others, she would cast aero on them and join in the fray. She flew around him and hooked her keyblade with his hooked hand. She spun him around and threw him off the boat and into the water with his little crocodile friend, leaving his part of the Ansem report on the ship.

Hook screamed and ran away from the crocodile while it chased him.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Since the fighting was over, Sora and Hikari had the chance to sulk. Seeing Riku and Kairi really tore them up.

Donald, Goofy and Peter just looked at them.

Goofy looked at Donald.

"Uh, Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's lost her-"

"Shh!" Donald said.

Goofy covered his mouth.

He didn't dare say anything about Riku since he knew it would upset Hikari. She was his closest buddy.

"Sora, Hikari" Peter said.

They just looked out at the ocean.

"I still can't believe it" Sora said.

"Neither can I" Hikari said.

They suddenly grinned at their friends.

"We really flew!" They said.

"Wait until I tell Kairi" Sora said.

"I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not"

Hikari had a fake smile plastered on her face.

"I'm sure Ni-san would believe me. I can't wait to tell him"

"You can bring them to Neverland sometime" Peter said.

"Then they can try it themselves"

Hikari thought about what the voice said to her.

"If you believe, you can do anything, right?" she asked.

"I'll get Riku back, I know I will"

"And I'll find Kairi" Sora said.

"There's so much I want to tell her- about flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened"

Hikari smiled weakly.

"If I told Ni-san, he would probably flip. He tends to worry too much"

Just then, Tinker Bell appeared before them. She went up to Peter and spoke to him in her fairy language.

"What's up, Tink? What about the clock tower? You say there's something there?"

Tinker Bell nodded.

They all left the ship and flew towards the clock tower.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Wendy sat on the clock tower waiting for Peter and the others.

They all flew to the clock tower and looked to see one of the faces were off. The other three read 12 o'clock while one of them read 9.

Sora whacked the hand until it reached 12. A keyhole appeared before them, letting Sora and Hikari seal up this world's keyhole and obtaining the other half to the navigation gummi that they needed.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"_Hey, Hikari?" _

_Hikari looked at Riku._

"_Hm?"_

"_If there really are monsters out there, I'll be there to protect you. I'll make sure nothing harms you"_

_He pointed to himself._

"_I'll be your knight in shining armor!"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_Does that make me your princess?"_

_He nodded._

"_Whatever Princess Hikari wants, Princess Hikari gets"_

_He bowed down dramatically._

"_What is it that you wish of your knight?"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_Let's go play!"_

_She held out her hand to him._

"_Come on, Sir Riku"_

_Riku grinned and took her hand._

_They walked out of the cave together._

"_Hey, I think Sora and Kairi said they had an idea they wanted to tell us" Hikari said._

"_I think they said they wanted to go traveling or something"_

_Riku really wasn't paying attention. He simply looked at the door in the cave and saw a keyhole within it._

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Riku panted on his hands and knees. He had foolishly traveled to Hallow Bastion with Kairi using the corridors of darkness.

His heart hurt from the strain it put on him. Or it could have been the heart ache he felt of leaving Hikari behind. Her words still rang through his head.

"_My heart belongs to you! It always has!"_

Did that mean she loved him and not Sora? Was he wrong to think that.

"_Hikari" _he thought.

Maleficent stood in front of him. She wasn't pleased that he traveled here on his own, but she more upset that the darkness surrounding him easing up. It seemed that Hikari was making that last bit of light in his heart shine brighter. She needed to do something about it before she lost control of him.

"It was reckless to bring her here without at least using a vessel" she said.

"Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart"

Riku just glared at her. He had just about had it with her.

"Shut up" he hissed.

They heard someone roaring deep within the castle.

"A castaway" Maleficent said.

"Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match to your power"

"My power?" Riku asked.

Maleficent smirked evilly.

This will would be how she snuffed out his light once and for all.

"Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now child, it's time you awakened that power and realized your full potential"

She unleashed the full power of darkness in his heart, causing his mind to sink further into the darkness.

Maleficent smirked wickedly.

"_Just you wait, Hikari" _she thought.

"_Once you see your lover submit to the darkness, your seer will shall break and your heart shall finally be mine!"_

She laughed at the idea.

"_There's no way that you'll protect her now, Taiyouko. It amazes me who so much she acts like you. She even suffers the same heart ache with her lover like you"_

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Peter flew beside Wendy on the clock tower.

"Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?"

"Afraid so" he said.

"But we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland, that is"

The others watched as they shared this tender moment.

Donald laughed at Tinker Bell as she fumed.

"Don't mind him" Hikari said.

"I know exactly how you feel"

She couldn't help but feel jealous over Kairi. How could she win Riku's heart when she tried to for years.

When she realized how dark she was thinking, she shook her head. She shouldn't be mad at Kairi over something like that. She was her best friend, and she was sure that she didn't mean it.

"_Besides, she's in danger. She needs my help"_

She looked at Tinker Bell.

"Don't feel so bad, I'm sure you'll find someone who cares a lot about you. Just believe and don't give up"

Tinker Bell looked at her for a moment before flying around Peter then flying around her.

"Oh, boy. She's getting steamed up again" Peter said.

"Do me a favor. Look after her for me, will ya?"

Hikari nodded and held her hand out so Tinker Bell could stand on it.

The little fairy kissed her on the cheek in return.

"We girls have to stick together until the very end" she repeated softly.

Thus, she learned how to summon Tinker Bell.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: So Riku is starting to realize that Hikari loves her, but will it be too late for them? Be prepared for a very long chapter next….a **_**very **_**long chapter. This is where Hikari has to prove to herself that she's far stronger than she realizes and that she won't fall to Maleficent's plans. Let's just see how strong her heart really is.**

**Remember to review!**

**Ja ne!**


	19. Hallow Bastion

Chapter 19: Hallow Bastion

**A/N: Now is where things get dicey for Hikari. She'll not only have to face Maleficent, but also Riku. Will be strong enough to save him? Or will it just end up destroying her?**

**Hope you're in for a **_**really **_**long chapter! I just wanted to see if I could pull it off and I did!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I do own Hikari and Taiyouko though.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Everyone headed back to Traverse Town once they left Neverland. Since they retrieved the other part to the Navigation Gummi, they could have Cid put it on their ship.

Hikari was still down about Riku, but she wasn't as upset as before. She simply decided that she would tell her feelings to him when she saw him and see how it went from there. She wasn't going to hold a grudge against Kairi simply because Riku possibly loved her.

If he loved Kairi, then she was just going to learn how to accept it. Even if he didn't love her, she would always love him, no matter. But a small part of her hoped that he felt the same way about her.

She looked at the reports that she got from Captain Hook.

It seemed he had three of them instead of two like the others.

She read them over to herself while Donald brought them back to Traverse Town.

"_I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night._

_What a find! The material is foreign to our world._

_It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily._

_None of the records even mention such a substance._

_Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door?_

_I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world…I wish I could soar off and find it! _

_Could there be uncharted worlds up there?_

_My curiosity never ceases to grow._

_But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams._

_For now, there is no way to venture outside this world._

_My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place"_

It seemed that Ansem had learned about the Gummi Blocks from this report. He also sounded like Riku when he wanted to get off the islands and explore other worlds.

She sighed sadly.

It amazed her how much Riku was like to Ansem. Both wanted to see and learn new things and they would do anything to obtain that dream.

"_Even submit to the darkness" _ she thought.

She read the next report quietly.

"_There is doubt that the heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts._

_Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart._

_As a start, I have built a devise that artificially creates heartless. _

_By recreating the conditions that spawn the heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially._

_This device is the culmination of all my research thus far._

_The machine's test run successfully created by a heartless._

_This may be a step toward creating a heart of nothing._

_The artificially and naturally created heartless showed nearly identical traits._

_But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment._

_So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially"_

So that was why some heartless had that little emblem put on them

And it explained how Maleficent took over her world. She must have found the device that made the heartless and created an army out of them.

She looked at the last report that she found.

"_Simply astonishing!_

_Today I had a guest from another world._

_He is a King, and his vessel is built from that material composed the meteors._

_He called them 'Gummi blocks'._

_It seemed my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel._

_We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called a 'keyblade'._

_They keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power._

_One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it._

_I must know what this keyblade is._

_A key opens doors._

_It must be connected to the door I have opened"_

King Triton mentioned about the keyblades shattering peace. Could this be where he got that idea?

How could a keyblade bring ruin? It was suppose to seal the heart of the worlds.

"_Unless it was put into the wrong hands" _she thought.

She looked at her pure white keyblade.

She could never imagine something so pure as her weapon bring chaos and ruin. She used it to protect the light of the worlds and all of the inhabitants on it.

She held it close to her chest.

"_I'll never let it fall into the wrong hands. It'll have to be ripped from my cold dead hands before I let that happen"_

She put the report in her pocket. She would give it to Leon when she saw him. Maybe he would have answers to these reports.

"_I hope you can help me fill the gaps, Ni-san. You're the only one I know who can help me"_

Donald docked into Traverse Town in a matter of minutes.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sora handed Cid the Navigation Gummi when they saw him.

"Looks like you found the other one" he said.

He examined it a bit.

"Ok, I'll get this installed. Just wait right here"

He went and left them there.

Sora was still down about the whole Riku and Kairi thing.

Hikari was too, but she decided to listen to the voice that she kept hearing and try another way to reach to Riku.

"Sora" Donald said.

"Now just remember what Donald said to ya" Goofy said.

"No frowning, no sad faces"

Sora looked at them.

"How can you be so cheerful?" he asked.

"There's still no sign of your king. Aren't you worried?"

"Ah, phooey!" Donald said.

"The king told us to go and find the key bearers, and we found you and Hikari" Goofy said.

"So, as long as we stick together, it'll all work out ok. Ya just got to believe in yourself, that's all"

"Just believe…" Hikari muttered.

She suddenly remembered that story her mother told her when she was little, about the worlds and the light and darkness.

She remembered one part that she told her about but she didn't understand at the time.

'_So, listen, Hikari. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away"_

Now it made sense to her a little. If she didn't give into the darkness, like those such as Maleficent, then she would survive. She wouldn't be destroyed like those who had drenched themselves in the darkness and lost.

She thought about Riku and how he was drenched in the darkness. Could he still be saved?

She remembered the voice saying even the smallest glimmer of light could save him. So as long as there was still light within his darkened heart, she could still save him, she could still reach him.

"_You can do it. I believe in you" _

Hikari gasped.

That was her mother's voice just then.

"Is something wrong, Hikari?" Goofy asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"It's nothing"

She looked up at the night sky.

"_Mom…did you call me?"_

Cid came back a few minutes later.

"I installed that navigation Gummi" he said.

But, that place is crawling with heartless. Don't say I didn't warn you"

He turned to Hikari.

"If you see your brother, don't tell him where you're going"

Hikari grew confused.

"Why?"

"If he knew where you were going, he would keep you here and make sure you were under surveillance 24/7"

Hikari nodded in understanding.

"I should go see him anyway. I have something I want to give him"

She turned to Sora and the others.

"You guys go ahead and get supplies. I'll be back in a bit"

She went to the third district to see her loving older brother.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was nice seeing Leon. He welcomed her with a big hug and gave her something to eat.

Hikari gave him the reports that she collected and told about her travels so far.

"And on this one world, I was turned into a mermaid and I was able to fly on the last one that we went on! Can you believe that, Ni-san!"

Leon smirked at her, which he rarely did for anyone.

She remembered that he didn't smile for anyone but for her and their mom.

He ran his hand through her hair like he used to do when she was little. It felt relaxing to her. After all that she went through, she really needed someone to lean to.

She thought about the story that her mom told her and what it meant. She remembered that she would hear it every night before she went to bed. She recalled it being her favorite story, but she didn't know why.

She looked at her brother.

"Hey, Ni-san, do you remember mom always telling us a story about the worlds and how there was light and darkness within them?"

Leon nodded.

"Yeah, that was your favorite story. You would always have mom tell you it before you went to bed, you even had me tell you it when we were here"

"Do you know why she told us it? She said that we if we believed in the light, then the darkness wouldn't touch us"

Leon ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, back when the heartless appeared on our world, people drenched themselves in the darkness" he said.

"The heartless always preyed on the weak. They felt that if they used the power of darkness, then they would have control over the heartless and they wouldn't become food. That worked for a tiny bit, but eventually backfired on them and they became heartless themselves. Those who choose to be bathed in light were spared since the heartless hated the light. What mom was trying to say was that if you bathe yourself in light, then the darkness won't touch you. If you believe in it, then nothing bad will ever happen to you. That is what she was trying to tell us. She didn't want to end up like those who sided with the darkness"

"_Sided with the darkness"_

Riku surrounded himself in the darkness and he had control of the heartless. Did that mean he would end up just like those who gave into the darkness? Would he become a heartless?

She prayed that wouldn't happen. She was his light in a way. He motivated her to become stronger and to want to fight. It was thanks to him that she was able to hang on for this long.

Leon saw her deep in thought.

"Is something up?"

Hikari shook her head.

She couldn't tell him what she was going through right now. This was something that she had to deal with.

"It's nothing" she said.

She looked at the time and figured that she made the others wait long enough.

"I should get going. Sora is probably waiting for me"

She hugged her brother goodbye and left.

She was sad to leave so suddenly again, but she had things to do.

She had to not only save Kairi, but Riku as well.

'_I don't what I can do, but I have to try. Riku isn't going to be saved by himself"_

She went back to the Gummi ship with the others and headed toward Hallow Bastion.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The trip to Hallow Bastion was dark and scary. The space outside was so dark, it was hard to see what was in front of them.

Hikari willed herself not to be afraid. She simply believed in her mother's story.

"_As long as I believe in the light, the darkness won't hurt me" _she thought.

She kept repeating that in her head as they traveled.

She wasn't going to let her fear take over her goal.

"_I will save you Riku. Even if I may not succeed the first time, I'll keep trying until you come back to the light. I won't give up on you!"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They arrived after a harsh trip.

They all found themselves standing near a rock lift with rising waterfalls.

Goofy pointed to something in the distance.

"Gawsh, look at that!"

Hikari saw the castle when the clouds disappeared.

It was the same castle that she saw in her memories.

Her head suddenly started to hurt. Falling to her knees, she held her head.

"Hikari!" Donald cried.

Images flashed through her head. All of them contained herself, Leon and her mother. They were all similar and revolved around this place. She suddenly remembered a huge chunk of her past.

When the pain died down, she stood up on shaky feet.

Sora let her lean on him as she breathed heavily.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I…I finally remembered part of my past" she said.

She looked up at the castle.

"This place…this is my world….this is where I was from"

She took a step forward.

"It looks different now, but the castle is still the same. This is my world"

She looked at Sora and grinned.

"Can you believe it? We finally found out where I was from"

Sora gave her a small grin.

They heard a roar coming from up ahead.

"Let's go"

They jumped up the rock lifts that lead to the castle.

Hikari felt her body moving on its own, as if it knew where to go.

She remembered something her mother once told her when she was little.

"_There are two types of memories that we all have. Memory of the mind and memory of the body. Naturally, the mind's memory is very important, but the body's memory is also crucial…because at times, the mind might forget something, but the body will always remember"_

Hikari smirked.

So even if her mind couldn't remember anything, her body would. And since she lived here, her body remembered where she went as a child.

"_I guess losing my memory wasn't so bad after all. My body can remember it for me"_

They went up the ledge and headed for the castle.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Riku stood where the waterfalls lead to the castle.

He was suppose to deal with the castaway that followed one of the princesses here. If he was in his right sense of mind, he would just leave the poor thing be. But since his heart was plunged so deep in the darkness, his sense of right and wrong were mixed up. He was nothing more than Maleficent's pawn. He didn't know what to believe any more or who was right. All he wanted was the one person who could make him smile, but according to Maleficent, she was now in love with his friend. Just thinking about that made his heart seep deeper into the darkness.

He looked at the beast who was standing before him.

"No vessel, no help from the heartless" he said.

"So tell me, how'd you get here?"

The beast growled.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it" he said in a deep voice.

"When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here"

He growled deeply.

"I will have her back!"

Riku scoffed.

"Take her if you can" he said.

He pulled out his soul eater.

Beast roared and lunged at Riku. He simply flipped out of the way and attacked him mercilessly. It made him sick that he went so far to find his princess when he was too weak to find Hikari. After their world was destroyed, he tried searching for her, but he wasn't as strong as he hoped he would. Instead, he sunk into the darkness and couldn't get out. To him, this was his way of taking out his anger on himself.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari and the others arrived as they saw Riku finish the Beast. The poor thing fell over injured.

Sora and Hikari ran up to him.

"Stop!" Sora cried.

Hikari knelt next to the Beast and cured most of his injuries.

She looked at Riku with hurt filled eyes. She could practically see the darkness coming off of him. He was so drenched in it, she doubted there was any light left within his heart. She didn't know if she could save him now. His usual calm aquamarine eyes were so cold that they looked like they were made out of ice. This was not the Riku that she knew and loved.

Riku didn't even look at her, he simply looked at Sora.

"So, you finally made it." He said.

" About time. I've been waiting for you"

He smirked darkly.

"We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you. We even fight over the same girl."

Hikari bit her lip. She wanted to confess her feelings, but her voice was caught in her throat. She gripped her keyblade tightly.

"Riku…" Sora said.

"But it ends here" Riku said.

"There can't be three keyblade masters"

Sora looked confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let the keyblade choose…it's true master" Riku said.

He held out his hand.

The keyblade in Sora's hand reacted to it and disappeared from his hands, only to reappear in Riku's.

Hikari's keyblade glowed brightly and suddenly dissolved into little spheres of light.

She looked horrified as they floated up to the sky.

"Maleficent was right" Riku said.

"You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the keyblade master can open the secret door…and change the world"

Hikari gasped.

Did he mean the same door from Ansem's report?

Sora looked at his bare hands.

"But that's impossible. How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the keyblade!"

Riku looked at the keyblade.

"You were just the delivery boy" he said.

"Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this:

He threw one of their wooden swords from the island towards him.

Sora fell to his knees.

Riku turned to Hikari.

"Since Sora doesn't have the keyblade anymore, you have no reason to be with him"

He held his hand out towards her and stepped forward.

"Come with me. I'll protect you"

Hikari saw the darkness swirling around him. She panicked when he got closer to her and she could feel.

Out of reflex, she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She cried.

"Stay away from me!"

Riku glared at her which made her step back.

"Are you still that terrified of the darkness?" he scoffed.

"I thought through all of your journeys, you would at least overcome that. And to think that I thought you were strong. It would seem that I was wrong. You're nothing more than a big coward"

Hikari gasped.

He had never called her a coward over her fear before. The Riku she knew always accepted it and just went along with it. He knew that her fears was a sensitive topic.

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked horrified.

They knew about her fear of the darkness and how she reacted towards it. They took it upon themselves to make sure she was surrounded by light.

"Riku! Take that back!" he shouted.

Riku didn't listen to him, he just looked at Hikari.

"Fine, if you're going to be a coward, you can stay with Sora. I don't have time for babies"

He walked away after that, never seeing the hurt and painful look upon her face.

She fell to her knees when she left.

Tears pooled her eyes as she covered her mouth.

She knew then and there, that it was too late to save him now. The Riku that she knew was long gone and he was never going to return. She didn't have her keyblade anymore, so how did she expect to save him.

"_Why?" _she thought.

"_Why did it disappear?"_

"_It's because your Keyblade is made out of the realm of light" _the voice said to her.

"_Most keyblade are made from the realm of light. But since yours is made out of it, it only responds with other keyblades from that realm. When the keyblade went to Riku, it simply returned to where it came from. It won't work when a keyblade is in the hands of someone who is drenched in darkness"_

She remembered Ansem's report saying that the keyblade could bring chaos and ruin if it feel into the wrong hands.

"_Riku's drenched hands"_

She started to sob when she thought about what he said to her. It was like a knife stabbing her heart as she heard from the one that she loved calling her a coward.

Sora knelt next to her and hugged her tightly.

"Shh, it's ok, Hikari. You're not a coward. You just know your limits"

She didn't say anything and just continued to cry.

Donald and Goofy looked at them sadly.

Since they didn't have the keyblades, they couldn't be with them anymore. They had to follow their king's orders.

"Goofy, let's go" Donald said.

"We have to remember our mission"

Goofy looked at him sadly. He didn't want to leave Hikari in the state that she was in. He became overprotective of her on their travels. But he had to follow orders.

"I know the king told us to follow the king and all…but…"

Donald looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Sora, Hikari, sorry"

They walked off to follow Riku.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sora just held Hikari as she cried. She needed someone right now and he was the only one here for her.

She sobbed uncontrollably.

"It's hopeless" she choked.

"I was too late! I can't save him! I can't tell him how I feel!"

She cried into Sora's shirt.

"He's too drenched in the darkness, there's no light left to bring him back"

Sora hugged her tightly.

He didn't want to believe that was true. But since he had the keyblade taken from him, he didn't know what to believe.

They suddenly heart the Beast get up. He staggered past them as he headed for the castle. He got to as far as the ledge before he collapsed again.

Sora and Hikari ran up to him.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt" Hikari pleaded.

The Beast just looked at them.

"Why…why did you…you come here?" he asked.

"I came to fight for Belle"

He stood up and started walking.

"And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here"

Sora thought about what he had said, then looked at his wooden sword. He had come all this way just so he could get Kairi back.

He picked the sword and went up to the Beast.

"Me too" he said.

"I'm not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me"

He looked at Hikari.

"How about you, Hikari? You came here for Riku, right?"

Hikari looked at the ground sadly and shook her head.

"I did, but it's too late" she said.

"His heart is drenched in darkness. There's not even a single glimmer of light that could bring him back"

Sora went up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"It's not too late" he said.

"Even in the deepest darkness, a light will always shine within"

Hikari gasped. That was part of the story her mother told her.

Sora smiled.

"And you're wrong, there's still light within him, it's just not in his heart. It's you"

Hikari pointed to herself.

"Me?"

Sora nodded.

"You started out on this journey just to find him by believing in the light. You believed that you would find him no matter what. You never lost sight of your goal even until now. You said you're going to save him, so make it come true. And it's like you always say: you've come too far to quit now"

Hikari looked at the ground.

Was there still a chance save Riku? Could she bring him back from the darkness.

"_Have faith in yourself, dear" _The voice said.

"_You have the light that can save him. It's not too late. Don't believe what he says. You're far stronger than what you think. You came this far, so don't give up"_

Hikari smiled.

She felt encouraged by the voice and by Sora's words.

"You're right" she said.

She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Sora"

Sora grinned.

"No prob. Now let's go"

That's when Hikari realized something: She didn't have a weapon.

"What am I suppose to do if we encounter heartless? I don't have a weapon"

"You're mom was a sorceress" Sora said.

"Maybe you are too. You can use magic without the keyblade"

Hikari looked at her hands.

"_Can I?"_

"_Of course you can" _the voice said.

"_Magic runs through your veins. It's time to unleash your full powers"_

She looked determined.

"Alright, let's go"

They went with the Beast up to the Castle.

"_Sora's right. I've come too far to quit now. I will save Riku, no matter what"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They went on a lift that would take them up to the castle.

Hikari was nervous about what was going to happen. She hoped that she would be able to use her magic effectively like she would with her keyblade.

They made it to the castle gates and saw the doors that lead to the castle.

She went up to it and tried to open it, but the doors were locked.

She slammed her fist against them.

"Riku must have locked them" she said.

"Is there any way for us to get in?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head sadly.

"I don't know"

Just then, she saw an image of her mother standing in front of her. It was like the time when she saw her in Merlin's house. Sora and the Beast didn't seem to see her, but she could.

"_Mom?"_

'Taiyouko' seemed to look frantic about something. She went up to the door and tried to open it like Hikari did a few second ago, but found that it too was locked for her.

'_No! I can't let him reach the door!' _she cried.

She ran through Hikari like a ghost and went down the near the lift that brought them there.

Hikari couldn't help but follow her. It was as if she was trying to show her something.

"Come on! Follow me!"

She followed her mother's image and saw her turn to the left where there was another lift the brought them down to the lower parts of the castle. She saw Taiyouko take an illusion version of the lift down to the lower parts.

"This way"

They stepped on the lift and went down.

The lower parts were filled with heartless.

Hikari remembered from Ansem's report that the heartless supposedly were created here. Sora and the Beast fought the heartless that were in their way. Since Sora had a wooden sword, he didn't do much damage to them, but since the Beast was with them, he just tore them up with his claws.

Hikari willed herself to use her magic.

"_Please let this work"_

She lifted her hand and envisioned fire shooting out of her hand. Her fingers started to grow warm and they glowed brightly.

Fire shot out of her hand and hit the heartless that Sora was fighting.

She looked at her hands in amazement. So she really could use magic without her keyblade. That was good to know.

She cast thunder on the rest of the heartless and looked around the area for her mother.

She saw Taiyouko walking over to some giant bubble that was floating over the water and stepped into it. The bubble took her below the water's depths and into the ruins of the waterway.

"This way"

They jumped through the bubbles and were taken into the waterways of the castle.

Hikari looked around for her mother, but couldn't find her.

"Hikari, why are you acting so strange?" Sora asked.

She didn't know how she was suppose to tell him that she was following her mother's image. She didn't know if what she was seeing was a memory or if it really was her mother and she was leading her somewhere.

"I…just remember being here when I was little" she said.

"I think this place has something to do with opening the doors to the castle"

They walked through the waterways and looked around.

Hikari was her mother phase through a wall that was probably not there when she went through here long ago.

She went up to it and tried to see if she could move it.

"It's no use, it won't budge"

"Move" the Beast said.

They moved out of the way as he broke through the wall.

Hikari looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks"

They pressed onward and followed Hikari as she trailed after her mother.

Taiyouko lead them into a dungeon area where there were heartless waiting for them. It was as if they were trying to protect something.

They attacked the heartless in the room while Hikari healed everyone.

She looked at her mother to see her push some type of device on the wall.

She went up to it and pushed the device as well.

As set of gates opened up and revealed another device that had to be pushed.

She kept pushing the devices until she reached one that was connected to all these gears.

"_This must be connected to the doors" _she thought.

She pushed it and saw the gears move. She heard something click and knew that the doors were unlocked.

She turned to Sora and the Beast.

"Alright, let's go back to the doors"

They left the waterway and headed back to the lift that went back up to the castle.

They made it back to the doors.

Hikari went up to them and pushed on them. She was glad to see that they opened this time. She turned to the others.

"Let's go, Kairi and Belle must be inside"

They went through the dark corridors of the castle.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Off in the deepest part of the castle, Maleficent stood before all of the captured Princesses, including Kairi's body.

She went near a doorway that lead to a room with a giant heartless emblem on the wall before looking back at the princesses.

"O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the keyhole!"

The princesses hearts glowed brightly before pointing towards the heartless emblem in the other room.

The emblem glowed brightly, but not as much as Maleficent wanted it to be.

She looked back at the princesses and noticed only six of the hearts were glowing.

That mean two were missing.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Back with Sora and Hikari, they were walking down the dark hallway of the castle.

Everything was going fine until Hikari suddenly felt a horrid pain in her chest. It almost felt like her heart was trying to rip itself from her body.

She feel to her knees and grabbed her chest. Sora knelt next to her.

"Are you ok?"

Hikari breathed heavily but nodded.

The pain died down for the moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine"

"Do you need to rest?" The beast asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"No, I won't rest until we find our friends. I've come this far, so why stop now"

She stood up and looked at her friends.

"Come on, let's get moving"

They walked down the hallway and entered what appeared to be the lobby of the castle.

"Be on your guard" the Beast said.

"They're close, I can feel it"

He looked at them.

"Are you ready for them?"

They nodded and walked forward.

The Beast went to walk to, but he sensed someone behind him. He turned around and saw 'Belle' standing in front of the hallway.

"Belle?" he asked.

She didn't say anything at all. Instead, she simply turned into a heartless.

The Beast growled in anger and lunged at the heartless.

"Wait!" Hikari cried.

It was too late, as he went through the hallway, the doors closed on him, separating him from Sora and Hikari.

She turned to Sora.

"Now what so we do?"

"We continue on" Sora said.

"We'll find a way to get him back"

Hikari nodded at that idea.

"Quit while you can"

They turned around to see Riku standing before them with Donald and Goofy.

Hikari felt her chest hurt as she looked at him. His words still stung her, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She came here to save him.

Sora was the same way.

"No. Not without Kairi" he said.

"And I'm not leaving without you, Riku" Hikari said.

Riku changed into his dark mode and changed his outfit.

"The darkness will destroy you" he said.

"It has no pity for cowards"

Hikari bit her lip.

She wasn't going to let his words sway her from her path.

"So what if I'm a coward?" she asked.

"At least I know my limits. You on the other hand don't, you just keep pushing forward until you reach your breaking point. And the darkness won't harm me"

Sora nodded.

"You're wrong, Riku" he said

"The darkness may destroy our bodies, but it can't touch out hearts. Our hearts will stay with our friends, it'll never die!"

"And as long as we believe in the light, the darkness can never touch us" Hikari said.

Riku scoffed.

"Really…well, we'll just see about that!"

He sent a mass of darkness at them. Sora and Hikari never jumped out of the way. They didn't want to fight Riku and they didn't want to prove that they feared the darkness.

They just stayed put and let the darkness come at him.

"_I need to overcome my fear" _Hikari thought.

Just as it was about to hit them, Goofy appeared in front of them and blocked the darkness with his shield.

"Sora and Hikari aren't gonna go anywhere!" he said.

Hikari gasped.

She never realized that Goofy would come to their rescue.

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asked.

"Not on your life!" Goofy said.

"But I'm not gonna betray Sora and Hikari either, 'cause they've become some of my best buddies after all we've been through together!"

Hikari smiled at him.

"Goofy"

Goofy looked at Donald.

"See ya later, Donald. Could you tell the King I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy!" he said

"We'll tell him together!"

He ran up to them.

"Well, you know… all for one and one for all"

"You guys" Hikari said softly.

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora, Hikari" Goofy said.

Sora smiled.

"Thanks a lot…Donald, Goofy"

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku asked.

They looked at him.

"We know now that we don't need the keyblades" Hikari said.

"We've got a better weapon"

"Our hearts" Sora said.

Riku scoffed.

"Your hearts? What good will those weak little things do for you?"

Hikari placed her hand on her chest.

"Although our hearts may be weak, they're not alone" She said.

"They've grown with each new experience, and they've found a home with all the new friends we've made."

Sora nodded.

"We've become a part of their hearts, just as they've become a part of ours. And if they think of us now and then…if they don't forget us…then our hearts will be one. We don't need a weapon. Our friends are our powers!"

"And the light is the only weapon I'll ever need" Hikari said.

"Even if I'm afraid of the darkness, as long as I believe that there is still a glimmer of light in the deepest darkness, then I have nothing to fear. I'll just hold onto that light and press forward. That darkness will never harm me as long as I believe in it!"

Just then, the keyblade vanished from Riku's hands and appeared in Sora's.

"Sora! You're keyblade!"

Hikari's keyblade reappeared in glimmers of light and landed in her hands. She smiled as she saw the familiar white key.

"_Well done, child" _the voice said in her head.

"_I knew you could do it"_

Hikari looked at Riku. She wanted to tell him how she felt but she didn't want to tell with the way that he was now. She wanted to tell the old Riku.

"Riku…there's something that I've been wanting to tell you for some time, but I won't talk to you with the way that you are now"

She held up her keyblade and looked at him darkly.

"I don't want to fight you, but if words alone can't bring you back to your old self, then I'm just going to have to use force"

Riku glared at her and pulled out his soul eater.

"Go ahead and try. You won't win"

Hikari smirked darkly at him.

"Don't be so sure of yourself"

Riku launched himself at everyone. If there was one thing that Sora and Hikari were grateful of, it was the fact that they fought with Riku on the islands and they knew how he moved and fought.

Hikari flipped out of the way when Riku went at her. She blocked his sword with hers and made eye contact with him.

"Riku! Pease stop this! You won't win!" She pleaded.

"Shut up!"

She jumped out of the way and cast thunder spells at him.

"You're out numbered, there's no way you can beat all of us" she said.

He didn't listen to her and just continued to fight.

Sora blocked his next attack.

"Listen to her, Riku! We know how you fight, there's no way you can win against us!"

"I'm stronger than both of you! I have full control of the darkness!"

"The darkness will destroy you!" Hikari cried.

She hit him in the side and kart wheeled out of the way.

"You can still return to the light, there's still time. Just let up help you!"

"No!"

They continued to fight him. Since they outnumbered him, the fight didn't last long.

Riku panted as he looked at them. He reverted back to his normal outfit.

Hikari sadly looked at him and took a step towards him.

"Riku…"

She held her hand out towards him.

He just looked at her for a moment before running off.

"Riku"

The Beast managed to get back to them after the battle.

"So, your hearts won this battle" he said.

Sora and Hikari nodded.

Hikari looked at the room they were in. She tried to see if her mother was here at all.

"_Mom…where are you?"_

Just then, Taiyouko magically appeared at the stairs. She looked afraid over something as she ran up them.

She ran up the stairs and looked down a hallway that had the heartless emblem on it. It seemed that it was missing pieces from it.

An image of Taiyouko suddenly flashed through her head. She was standing before the wall with the pieces still stuck in the emblem.

She looked angry as she broke them off with her magic.

"_You won't get to the keyhole! I won't let you!"_

She ran off with the pieces and headed for the library.

"I think I know where the pieces are" she said.

"Follow me"

They ran to the library.

This was her mother's favorite stop on their world. She read every single book within the place and knew everything about it, including the little traps that were created within it as well.

She remembered that her mom made the library so that the bookshelves would block people from coming in. She did this so she could have privacy and so she could hide from someone.

"_Was she hiding from Ansem?"_

She recalled that the only way to move the shelves was to put certain books back on their proper shelves. It was easy since they were color coded.

Hikari cracked the code by picking up the books that she found and placing them back on the shelves.

"How do you know which book goes where?" Donald asked.

"My mom always stayed here when I was little" she said.

"This was her favorite place. She would always take me here so she could tell me stories, so I know how this library works"

She managed to move the shelves back to where they could go on the upper level.

They ran up and found a door way that lead to the upper floor of the entrance hallway.

"The pieces should be up here" she said.

She ran after the image of her mother and saw her place the pieces all around the entrance hallway.

She placed one of the pieces within the fountain at the bottom and placed a spell on a statue that was upstairs. She made to magical pots beside it.

"_The only way he can get it is if he smashes these pots. Otherwise, the statue won't trigger the fountain"_

She placed the next piece up into the lantern that was hanging from the ceiling.

She cast blue fire over the piece so no one could get it. She even put out the candles within the room.

"_I'll dim your path just a bit" _

She hid another piece within a strange statue.

"_Let's see you try breaking this. Not even you could destroy this rock alone"_

She hid the last piece closely to her as she looked around the room. She needed to hide this last piece very well or else someone would find it.

She magically created a treasure chest and hid the piece within it.

She then made is disappear and placed a spell on one of the statues.

"_Not even your mighty strength could find this piece"_

Hikari now knew where her mother hid the pieces.

"I know where the pieces are!" she cried.

"My mom hid them within the room"

"Why would she do that?" Sora asked.

Hikari thought about it. From what she had seen, it seemed like Taiyouko was trying to prevent someone from going into the room behind the door…someone like Ansem.

"I think…she was trying to prevent anyone from entering that door" she said.

"She felt that there was something bad on the other side and she didn't want anyone to go in it"

"I wonder what it could be?" Donald asked.

"There's only one way to find out" Hikari said.

She told them where the pieces were and they all went to get them. When they all got the pieces, they stood in front of the door.

"All right, let's see if this works"

She placed the pieces in their rightful place. The door glowed and opened up for them.

"Let's go" she said.

They went deeper within the castle.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile with Riku, he was running down the dark hallways in the deepest part of the castle.

He couldn't believe that he was beaten by Sora and Hikari. He never expected them to be that strong. What's more, he never thought that the keyblades would return to them.

Wasn't he the rightful owner? Maleficent said he was, so why didn't he have it.

"Why? It was mine" he said.

"Know this" a voice said.

Riku turned around to see a cloaked man standing before him.

"The heart that is strong and true shall win the keyblade"

That set Riku off. He was weaker than Sora? Than Hikari?

"What? Are you my heart's weaker than theirs?"

The cloaked man nodded.

"For that instant, it was"

Riku looked mad.

"However, you can become stronger" the cloaked man said.

"You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger"

Riku thought about it for a moment. He didn't want to be weak. He wanted to be stronger than Sora. He didn't want Hikari to be stronger. He was suppose to be her knight, so he had to be stronger. He couldn't protect her if he was weak.

"What should I do?"

"It's really quite simple" the man said.

"Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being become darkness itself"

Riku did so, not realizing that he was about to make his body as a host to the cloaked man.

The man smirked as his plan worked.

"It's too late to save your knight now….Hikari"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari could have sworn that someone was calling her. When she saw no one, she just thought it was her imagination and shrugged it off.

They went through the lift shop to head up to the upper parts of the castle.

Hikari kept following Taiyouko's illusion body and went higher up.

She didn't know why she was going up, but it almost seemed like she was trying to take her somewhere. It was as if she knew what she was looking for.

"_Mom…do you know where Kairi is?"_

They kept using the lifts and fought off the heartless.

It was much easier to fight, now that they had their keyblades. Since Hikari found out that she could use magic without it, she would just sent spells from her hands instead of her keyblade.

They went up to as high as the castle chapel before they stopped.

Hikari heard the voice talking in her head.

"_Be careful child, Maleficent is nearby. She is very powerful with magic. Even your mother had a hard time fighting her"_

She knew all too well about that. Her mom tried to save their world from her, but it seemed that she failed.

She had gotten this far and fought really hard individuals, so maybe she could defeat her as well.

"_Don't worry mom, I'll avenge you"_

They walked through the chapel.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Maleficent stood before the keyhole. She was wondering why it didn't appear before her.

A possessed Riku dressed in his dark mode came next to her.

"So, I see the path has emerged at last"

His voice sounded different. He still had his normal voice, but another voice was added as he spoke, a deeper voice.

"Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness" Maleficent said.

"Unlock it and the heartless will over run this world" 'Riku' said.

"What do I care?" Maleficent said.

"The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds"

"Such confidence" 'Riku' said.

He produced a dark keyblade before him.

Maleficent looked amazed.

"Oh"

She suddenly realized what that keyblade was and looked at the keyhole. Now she understood why the keyhole didn't appear before no.

"Impossible! The princesses of heart are all here!"

She looked at Kairi's body.

"It must be her"

"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power" 'Riku' said.

"And she's not the only one. You're missing one other princess, correct?"

Maleficent growled.

"Hikari" she hissed.

"I knew I should I have taken her heart when I last saw her."

"And yet you let her run around, sealing the keyholes to other worlds" 'Riku' said.

Maleficent just glared at him.

They heard someone entering the chapel.

"The King's fools are here" Maleficent said.

"Then that must mean the key bearers are here as well…including Hikari" 'Riku' said.

"I'll deal with them myself" Maleficent said.

"I'll even rip Hikari's heart out if I have to"

She walked away.

"You stay here and guard the princesses"

'Riku' smirked evilly at her.

"Be on your guard" he said.

"She may be a princess, but she's also Taiyouko's daughter and a sorceress. She won't give up so easily"

Maleficent glared at him.

"I'm well aware of that" she hissed.

"But she's merely a child. If her mother couldn't defeat me, how would she be able to accomplish that?"

She walked off to take care of their intruders. She didn't even notice 'Riku's body glowing darkly.

"You'd be surprised" he said.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari and the others ran into the chapel, where Maleficent waited for them.

She smirked evilly when she saw Hikari.

"I'm afraid you're too late" she said.

"Any moment now, the final keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable"

She looked at Hikari.

"As for you, my dear. You're coming with me. I've let you have your fun, now you need to unless your full power"

Hikari glared at her and pointed her keyblade at her.

"No way! I came here to stop you and to take Riku back! How dare you spout such lies to him!"

Maleficent laughed wickedly.

"Oh please, that poor boy was so deep in his despair that he would believe anything. There's no way you can save him with your current power"

"I can try! I came this far believing that I would find him! I'm not leaving without him! I'm going to save him and stop you as well!"

Maleficent looked at her with disgust.

"You act just like your mother did" she said sourly.

"Always speaking with such confidence. She thought that she could beat me by using the power of light, but in the end it backfired on her. I was always better than her. She was no match for me"

"You're wrong!" Hikari cried.

She knew her mother couldn't lose to someone like her.

"My mother didn't lose because of the light. When you sent the heartless to take over our world, she decided to save my brother and I instead of defeating you! She believed that you would meet your fate, but not by her hands. That's why I'm here to stop you! I won't let you get to the keyhole"

Maleficent glared at her.

"You poor ,simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?"

She suddenly rose from the ground on a floating rock.

Hikari braced herself for what was to come.

"_Mother, please give me strength!"_

Since Maleficent fought with magic, so did she. She knew that her powers paled in comparison, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

She cast gravity on her floating pedestal and brought it down to where she could jump on it.

Sora, Donald and Goofy were busy fighting the heartless that Maleficent summoned, but that was fine with her.

She wanted to fight Maleficent on her own. She was her mother's enemy, so she was her enemy as well.

Maleficent sneered at her.

"What can you possibly hope to accomplish?" she asked.

"You're just a weak little girl who can hardly pickup her keyblade. You'll never defeat me"

Hikari glared back at her.

"I came this far with my strength alone. If I can accomplish that, then who's to say that I can't stop you?"

She cast Aero on herself and block Maleficent's staff with her keyblade at the same time.

"Oh? So you learned how to use magic without using your keyblade?" Maleficent mocked.

Hikari shrugged.

"What can I say? Magic runs through my veins"

Her body started to glow white with power.

Maleficent panicked.

"No! It can't be!"

She knocked Hikari off her pedestal and watched as she flipped to the ground.

"How can she be here? She was destroyed!"

Hikari looked at her glowing body. What was this power that she was feeling.

"_The power of light" _the voice said.

"_Only the purest of hearts can wield such power. Use it and vanquish the evil"_

Hikari looked at Maleficent and pointed her keyblade at her.

The key started to glow as well as her pendant.

"_This is for you, mom" _

Maleficent panicked.

"Impossible!"

"Never underestimate the power of light!" Hikari cried.

Her pendant and keyblade shot out beams of light, which connected together and hit Maleficent square in the chest.

The evil witch screamed in pain landed on the ground. The heartless that she summoned disappeared and she limped away from them.

She held her chest as she looked at the group. Her eyes landed on Hikari last. Instead of seeing her, she saw Taiyouko.

She panicked and opened a portal behind her.

"No! Stay away! I won't let you beat me again!"

She ran through the portal and left them, not even bothering of closing it behind her.

Hikari looked at herself. She never knew she wielded such power. The others didn't think so too. They were amazed she took Maleficent down so easily.

"She's still not down for the count yet" Hikari said.

"Let's finish her off once and for all"

They ran through the portal to chase after Maleficent.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Maleficent was gasping for air and she escaped into the other room. She never that Hikari could wield such power.

"It's…impossible" she gasped.

"She's….just a little girl. She's nothing…like Taiyouko"

Just thinking about the woman set her off. She never thought she would see her again. But after that battle, she knew exactly where she had been hiding all these years.

"Just you wait…Taiyouko. You're little girl….won't be here for long"

'Riku' came out of a portal and stood next to her with his keyblade drawn. He knew that she would be defeated.

"Do you need some help?" he asked.

"Riku!"

He turned around to see the others running into the room.

Hikari looked at him sadly when she saw that he was in his dark mode again. He also seemed very different from before

They all spotted his keyblade.

"Is that…" Donald said.

"Yes. A keyblade" 'Riku' said.

The voice in Hikari's head screamed.

"_Stay away from that keyblade, child! It's made from the realm of darkness!"_

"But unlike yours…" 'Riku' said.

"This keyblade hold the power to unlock people's hearts. Allow me to demonstrate"

He turned around and stabbed it into Maleficent's chest.

The evil witch was mortified.

"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"

'Riku' disappeared into a portal.

Maleficent smiled at this new power she felt.

"This is it! This power! Darkness… the true darkness!"

She transformed into a giant black dragon.

Hikari backed away when she immediately when she spewed green flames from her mouth.

She countered them with her strongest blizzard spells. She didn't know how bad these green flames burned, but she wasn't going to find out.

Everyone ran away from her as she snapped her jaws at them and when she stomped her feet around.

Sora ran up her tail and hit her in the head to stop her attacks.

When she suddenly spun around, Hikari got hit by her tail and was slammed into the wall.

She winched in pain as she got up.

Everyone was getting seriously hurt by Maleficent and it seemed they weren't going to last much longer. She had to finish this soon, or else her friends were going to be burnt to a crisp.

Running with a slight limp in her step, she ran up her tail and stood behind her head.

She pointed her keyblade at her and let it glow along with her pendant. She only had one shot, so she had to make this right.

"This is for taking Riku from me!"

She shot off the beam of light and made a direct hit.

Maleficent screeched in pain and collapsed lifelessly.

She burst into green flames and left nothing, but her cape behind.

Hikari breathed heavily as where Maleficent one stood.

She actually brought the evil witch down. She defeated her mother's greatest enemy.

"_Mom…I hope I made you proud"_

'Riku' reappeared and looked at where Maleficent once stood.

"How ironic" he said.

"She was just another puppet after all"

"What?" Sora asked.

"The heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning " 'Riku' said.

"She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her. A fitting end for such a fool"

Now Hikari knew something was off about Riku. His voice sounded so differently, like it was someone else.

"Riku?"

He didn't say anything to her and just went into a portal.

Hikari quickly looked at Sora.

"Since Maleficent is out of the way, let's go find Kairi"

Sora nodded.

"But where can we find her?"

Hikari picked up her pendant.

She wondered why it held such power. It was able to create light and protect her like a shield.

"Please…show us where Kairi it, show me where I can find my best friend"

The pendant glowed and shot a beam of light out of the room.

"Let's go"

They ran out of the room and headed back to the lifts.

"It's leading to upstairs"

They took a lift and went up a floor where the grand hall was.

"She must be here"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They ran into the grand hall and entered a hallway where all of the princesses were kept. Among them were Jasmine, Alice and Belle.

Hikari ran up the stairs and stood before the heartless emblem. She didn't even realize Goofy was blocked by a invisible barrier.

Sora looked to the ground and found Kairi lying there.

"Kairi!"

He ran up to her and knelt next to her. He picked her up and shook her a little.

Hikari stayed on watch in case anything happened.

Just then the pain in her chest started up again. She grabbed her chest and leaned against her keyblade.

She took a few deep breaths when the pain died down.

What was happening to her.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

"It's no use"

They turned around to see 'Riku' standing on top of the Heartless emblem.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

He didn't pay attention to her.

"That girl has lost her heart. She can't wake up"

She suddenly realized that this wasn't Riku that she was seeing. It was someone entirely different.

"You…you're not Riku"

"_His body is being controlled by someone else" _the voice said.

"_He is but a puppet now"_

'Riku' jumped off and floated down to the ground.

"The keyhole cannot be complete so long as the two last princesses of heart sleep"

Sora looked at Kairi.

"Princess?...Kairi's a princess?"

"Yes, and without her and the other princess' powers, the keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time that they awaken"

Hikari grew mad.

How dare someone take over Riku's body.

"Whoever you are, let Riku go!" she cried.

"Give him back his heart!"

'Riku' didn't listen to her.

"But first, you must give the princesses hearts back"

The pain flared up in her chest again, only ten times worse. She fell to her knees, clawing at her chest. Sora for some reason was in a similar situation as she was.

"Sora! Hikari!" Donald cried.

"What's-"

"Don't you see yet?" 'Riku' asked.

"The princess' heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"

Hikari gasped.

Now it all made sense. When she saw Sora's memory of Kairi disappearing, she transferred her heart to Sora. She was with him all along.

"Kairi…Kairi's inside me?" Sora asked.

The pain became worse for Hikari. Her heart felt like it was about to explode.

"What's happening to me?" She gasped.

'Riku' looked at her.

"I thought you would figure it out by now" he said.

"You are the last princess of heart. The only one who can wield a keyblade"

"What?"

She suddenly remembered one of her deepest memories.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

_Taiyouko held Hikari tightly within her arms._

_She glared at the man that was now known as Ansem._

_When he went to take a step forward, she back away and held Hikari tighter._

_Leon hid behind her and held her dress. His usually stoic look was replaced with fear._

"_Stay away from her!" Taiyouko cried._

_Hikari didn't know what was going on. Her mother had her face pressed into her chest so she couldn't see what was going on._

"_You're not taking my baby!" Taiyouko said._

_Ansem chuckled darkly._

"_It's useless to fight, Taiyouko" he said._

"_I've found the final keyhole and the princesses of heart. Hikari's heart responded to it dramatically. You know what that means"_

_Taiyouko shook her head frantically._

"_She's not a princess of heart! She's a normal girl!"_

"_Say what you will, you know that's not true. She heart is more pure than those on this world. Only the purest of hearts can open the final door, and she's one of them"_

"_You're not using her!"_

"_It doesn't matter anymore. Her heart belongs to me"_

_He stretched out his hand and went to grab Hikari, but Taiyouko blocked him with her magic._

_He was sent back a few feet._

_Taiyouko turned to Leon and handed Hikari over to him._

"_Mommy!" he cried._

"_Leon! Run!" she ordered._

_Leon nodded and ran out of the room with Hikari in his arms._

_Ansem glared at them as they left._

"_You won't escape!"_

_He sent heartless after them._

_Taiyouko summoned her staff and ran after them._

"_You won't open the final door! I won't let you!"_

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

So she really was a princess. That explains why Maleficent wanted her and why she had certain powers.

'Riku' smirked, knowing that she remembered.

"I know all that there is to know" he said.

Hikari looked at the imposter who took Riku's body.

"Tell me…who are you?"

'Riku' smirked.

"It is I, Ansem. The seeker of darkness"

Hikari gasped.

The same Ansem from the reports? The same one who she fear as a child.

He was the one who took Riku's body? It couldn't be true.

"Riku! Please come back! Don't give in!" she cried.

"You're wasting your breath, child" Ansem said.

"This body belongs to me now, his heart has plunged into the darkness. Your voice will never reach him"

Hikari felt tears in her eyes.

"Riku! Please listen to my voice! I have something I want to tell you!"

"I told you, it's useless" Ansem said.

"The light has been snuffed from his heart. He is no more"

The tears fell from her face.

"No…"

The pain became too much for her at this point. It was becoming hard for her to breathe.

Ansem went up to them.

Donald charged at them, feeling that he was the only one who could protect Sora and Hikari at this point.

Ansem just pushed him out of the barrier.

He went to Hikari first, thinking that it would be easier to extract her heart.

"I shall release you now, Princess. As you said before, your heart belongs to me"

He held his keyblade out at her.

"Complete the keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"

He raised his keyblade high into the air and brought it down.

Hikari was about to give up, but then she heard her mother's voice.

"_Hikari!"_

She quickly brought her keyblade up and block Ansem's.

"Forget it!" she hissed.

She shoved his keyblade.

"There's no way you're taking mine or Kairi's heart!"

She weakly got to her feet.

"And my heart doesn't belong to you! It belongs to Riku! He always has and always will have my love and my heart! You're not taking his heart!"

Sora got up and held his keyblade out.

"Let's get Riku back"

Ansem held his keyblade the same manner that Riku held his weapon, showing proof that he had taken over his body.

Hikari was screaming in her head as she fought him.

Now she knew that it was too late to save him. He had given his body up for the darkness and his heart was lost. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew it was true.

She locked keyblades with him and looked him in the eye. She tried to see if she could find any bit of Riku's soul within those aquamarine eyes of his.

"Riku! Please listen to me! I know you're there!"

Ansem shoved her away.

"It's hopeless" he said.

Sora attacked him head on while Hikari jumped out of the way.

She watched as they fought.

"_What can I do?" _ she thought.

Ansem attacked when he saw that she was lost in thought.

She tried to block it, but she was too late.

He slashed her across the collarbone and broke the chain to her pendent. The heart shaped necklace skidded across the room, while she pressed her hand to her bleeding chest.

"Hikari!" Sora cried.

Hikari just panted as she looked at the one that she loved.

"_Riku…is it too late to save you? Has your heart plunged so deep into the darkness that you can't reach the light?"_

She suddenly remembered Sora saying that she was his light and she could still bring back from the darkness.

If she could save him, how was she suppose to do it?

She looked at her keyblade and remembered it had the power to seal the light within the heart of the world.

She looked at Ansem then back at her keyblade.

"_If my keyblade can protect the light of the heart of the worlds….then surely it can do the same with the hearts of people"_

She stood up and looked at him. There was no way she could get to him without getting hit by that Keyblade of his.

"_If I attack him…I'll be risking the chance of freeing my heart and completing the keyhole" _she thought.

But when she thought about Riku and all of her friends, she couldn't help but smile.

"_But then again…I don't want everyone to lose their smiles to this man. If I fade because of this, then at least I'll do it with dignity. I just want Riku to return"_

Sora flipped out of the way and landed next to Hikari.

"It's no use!" he cried.

"He's so strong"

Hikari looked at the ground for a moment.

"Sora…"

He turned to her.

"What?"

She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

"Take care of Kairi and the others"

"Wha?"

She ran at Ansem/ Riku head on with her keyblade.

"You fool! You're running into your grave!"

Hikari didn't listen and charged at him.

She stabbed her keyblade into his chest while Ansem stabbed her with his.

"Hikari no!" Sora cried.

"Foolish girl" Ansem said.

"It was pointless to attack me head on. Now your heart belongs to me"

Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, but she didn't care.

She just smirked.

"Why are you smirking?" Ansem asked.

He looked at her keyblade and realized which one it was.

"This is-"

Hikari used her keyblade and sealed the light within Riku's heart.

She felt her heart being taken from her body so she needed to confess her feelings before it was too late.

She leaned forward and pecked Riku on the lips.

"Riku…I don't know if you can hear me….but there's something I've been meaning to tell you for quite some time"

Tears ran down her face as she gave him a weak smile.

"I love you, Riku…I love you so much…I love you more than you can ever know… you complete me, you're my light, my other half…so please…return to me"

Tear ran down Riku's face.

"Hi…ka…ri…"

Hikari smiled.

It wasn't Ansem's voice that spoke to her, but Riku's.

She closed her eyes when she felt her heart being taken from her.

Her body slumped forward and dissolved into particles of light.

Riku panicked and reached out towards where she was.

"HIKARI!" he screamed.

Sora, Donald and Goofy watched in horror as their friend disappeared.

"Hikari!" Donald cried.

"Come back, Hikari!" Goofy shouted.

Riku screamed and grabbed his head.

"Foolish boy. This body belongs to me" Ansem said.

He took control of his body once more and faced Sora.

"Only one heart left" he said.

Sora aimed his keyblade at him and attacked.

"Hikari…what did you do"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hikari felt her body floating aimlessly within the darkness.

Her eyes were closed, but she knew where she was.

"_So this is what it's like to be in the darkness?" _she thought.

"_I guess it's not so scary after all"_

She floated within the depths of the dark abyss.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sora managed to defeat Riku/Ansem.

He disappeared and left his keyblade behind.

"Riku!"

"Sora! Sora, look!" Donald shouted.

"The…the keyhole!" Goofy cried.

Sora looked at the keyhole.

He took out his keyblade and pointed towards it, but nothing happened to it.

"It won't work!" Goody said.

"The keyhole's not finished yet!"

Sora put his keyblade away.

"What can we do?"

"Maybe we got to wake Kairi up" Goofy said.

That was right, they needed the princesses hearts to finish the keyhole. That was why Hikari sacrificed herself.

"I think you're right" he said.

"If we can free her heart…but…but how?"

He spotted Riku's keyblade on the ground.

"A keyblade that unlocks people's hearts…I wonder"

"Sora?" Goofy asked.

Sora went up to the keyblade and picked it up.

"_Maybe if I use this…then I can release Hikari's heart as well" _he thought.

"Sora, hold on!" Goofy said.

"No, wait!" Donald cried.

Sora looked at them and smiled.

He stabbed himself with the keyblade and released everyone's hearts, including his.

The keyblade disappeared and were turned into the hearts of the princesses. They returned to their rightful owners.

When Kairi's returned to hers, she opened her eyes.

Sora's body started to dissolve into light like Hikari's did.

"Sora!...Sora!" Donald cried.

Hearing Sora's name, Kairi sat up and saw Sora starting to fade away.

"Sora!"

She got up and ran to catch him, but he faded into particles of lights.

"Sora!" Donald cried.

"Come back, Sora!"

Kairi looked where he had disappeared.

"Sora, are you really-"

She shook her head.

"No. He can't be! I won't let him go!"

Goofy looked around.

"Hey, where's Hikari?" he asked.

"When the keyblade disappeared, she should have returned too"

Kairi panicked.

"Hikari's here too?"

Just then, a heart floated down towards them. Kairi held her hands out and let it rest in her hands.

She looked at it for a moment before realizing who it belonged to.

"Is this…is this Hikari's heart?"

The heart floated out of her hands and landed on Hikari's pendant that was taken off of her during her fight with Ansem. It was absorbed within the locket.

"Her pendant!" Kairi cried.

"She's never seen without it! Where is she?"

Before Donald and Goofy could say anything, Ansem came before them in his regular form.

"So, you have awakened at last princess" he said.

"The keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over"

He started to walk towards them.

Donald and Goofy took out their weapons and defended Kairi.

"Don't make another move!" Donald said.

"Do you think we can stop him by ourselves?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know" Donald said.

As Ansem was walking, he spotted Hikari's pendant.

A dark smirk appeared on his face.

"Ah, so that's where you've been hiding this whole time"

He went to grab it, but he felt his body freeze.

"Impossible.."

Riku suddenly appeared before them and stopped Ansem.

"No. You won't use me for this!"

"Riku!" Kairi cried.

"You got to run!" Riku cried.

"The heartless are coming!"

He looked at Hikari's pendant with sad eyes.

"Grab the pendant! Don't let him get it!"

He added.

Kairi nodded and grabbed it before running with Donald and Goofy.

"Foolish boy, go back from the depths that you came" Ansem said.

Riku felt himself being sucked back into the dark.

He looked at the ground sadly as he felt himself fading.

"Hikari…I'm so sorry"

When he and Ansem vanished, a set of heartless appeared.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The two heartless looked at each other for a moment. The only way they responded was by wiggling their antennas.

They looked around the room and started scampering out of the room.

One of them seemed to know the way and was in the lead while the other just followed.

Instead of taking a lift, they just jumped down to the ledge to get to the bottom floors.

They made it to the entrance hall and went through it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Kairi, Goofy and Donald had made it back to the entrance hall before Kairi stopped.

"Kairi, hurry!" Goofy said.

Kairi didn't want to leave her friends behind. She just felt horrible.

"I can't leave them behind!" she said.

"We can't stay here!" Donald said.

Kairi ran down the steps to catch up with them.

"The heartless are after us!" Goofy cried.

"I'll take care of them!" Donald said.

The two heartless went down the stairs and went up to the group.

Donald hit on the head with his staff, but it wouldn't budge.

"Confounded, heartless! Get lost, will ya?"

Kairi looked at them for a moment and gasped.

"Sora…is that you?"

She looked at the other heartless.

"If that's Sora…then this must be Hikari"

Just then a group of heartless surrounded them.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy said.

He and Donald went to attack the heartless so they wouldn't attack Kairi.

Kairi knelt next to the one she thought was Hikari.

She pulled out her pendant that she was holding.

"I believe this belongs to you, Hikari"

She placed it around the heartless' neck before looking at the heartless that were closing in on her. She wasn't going to let them get her closest friends.

"This time, I'll protect you" she said to them.

When they went to jump at her, she held them close to her body.

"Sora! Hikari!"

The heartless jumped on top of her and the two heartless'.

"Kairi!" Goofy cried.

Just then, the heartless vanished and revealed Sora and Hikari holding Kairi protectively.

"Kairi…thank you" Sora said.

Hikari suddenly feel to her knees and swayed a little.

"Riku…" she mumbled.

"Thank you"

"Sora! Hikari!" Kairi cried.

"Sora!" Donald shouted.

"Hikari!" Goofy cried.

Hikari gave her friends a weak smile as she struggled to her feet.

She looked at her pendant that was placed back on her neck.

"Thanks, Kairi" she said softly.

Just then, the heartless appeared again and surrounded them.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and surrounded Kairi so she wouldn't get hurt.

The Beast roared and came down from the top of the stairs.

He attacked the nearest heartless and looked at the others.

"Go! Now!" he shouted.

"Come with us!" Sora said.

"I told you before!" The Beast said.

"I'm not leaving without Belle! Now, go! The heartless are coming!"

Sora nodded.

"All right. Let's get out of here"

"We'll come back for you! We promise!" Hikari said.

They all ran out of the castle and headed back for the Gummi ship.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They headed for Traverse Town, thinking it was the safest place for Kairi.

They immediately went to Leon and the others so they could tell them what was going on.

Hikari was doing so good since she was still weak from being a heartless. Sora was fine, but she figured it was because she was a princess of light and that she wasn't suppose to have darkness within her heart.

"_So why did I become one?"_

Leon looked at them when they came into the small house.

Sora had told them where they went.

Leon was beyond pleased that he learned that his little sister went back to their world. It was way too dangerous for her to go there. He made sure that he would beat Cid for letting them go.

"Tell me what happened?" he said.

"Well.."

Sora told him everything that happened, including about how him and Hikari turning to heartless. He also told them about the keyhole.

Leon looked at his sister worriedly.

Like usual, he checked to see if she was ok, before he pressed further into the matter.

"So the darkness is flowing out of that keyhole" he said.

"No wonder there are more and more heartless everywhere" Aerith said.

"The only way to stop them is…"

"Seal the keyhole, right?" Sora finished.

"Maybe" Leon said.

"But no one knows what will happen once it's sealed"

"But we can't just stay here" Hikari said.

"We have to do something. I've got a friend back there"

She knew that Riku was alive. She knew it when she sealed the darkness away in his heart.

"That's right" Leon said.

"You have one more friend to worry about. Riku's keyblade must've been born of the captive princesses' hearts- just like that keyhole you saw. Of course, without yours or Kairi's hearts, it remained incomplete. Once that keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed"

He looked at his sister.

"Don't worry, Hikari. If anyone can save your friend, it's you"

Hikari nodded.

"That's right. If Sora can save Kairi, then I can save Riku"

She looked at her brother for a moment.

"Ni-san…did you know that I was one of the princesses that were needed for the final keyhole?"

Leon nodded slowly.

"When mom learned that you were one of them, she took extra care into keeping you away from Maleficent and Ansem. We wouldn't keep you out of our sites, fearing that you were going to be taken from us. We even staked our lives in protecting you"

Hikari grew touched. Her brother cared about her so much that he was willing to sacrifice his life for her. He had to be the best older brother that anyone could have.

"Still…I still can't believe you took down Maleficent"

Hikari smirked at that.

"Hey, I'm not just a princess you know, I'm also a keyblade master"

Leon smirked.

"Mom would be proud"

Sora looked at Hikari.

"Let's go back to Cid and see if he can get us back to Hallow Bastion. I think that last Gummi broke when we tried to escape"

Hikari nodded.

She looked at her brother.

"I know you don't want me to go there, but…."

Leon just patted her head in understanding.

"Just be careful, ok?"

She smiled and nodded.

"I will"

They went back to see if Cid would help them.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Cid, we need to go back to Hallow Bastion" Sora said.

Cid just gave them a stern look.

"I don't think I can let you do that" he said.

"The heartless there are multiply by the minute. They'd eat your ship up"

"But, Uncle Cid…" Hikari said.

"Then what can we do?" Sora said.

"Simple. Go around them instead of through" Cid said.

"Install a new navigation Gummi and take a new route"

"A new Gummi? From where?"

"The secret waterway. When I came here 9 years ago, I stored it there in case I ever needed it"

He looked at Hikari.

"Never thought you would be the one to use it"

Hikari shrugged.

"I never expected to have a keyblade"

"Fair enough, I'm sure you know where I put it, so ahead and take it"

Hikari nodded and left with the others.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Kairi was waiting for them at the secret waterway.

"Kairi!"

Hikari ran up to her and hugged her best friend.

"I'm so glad you're ok"

Kairi smiled.

"I'm glad you're ok too. Thanks for coming to rescue me"

"Hey, that's what best friends are for"

She left her so she could grab the navigation Gummi that was hidden behind the wall. The scenery changed from being a sun to a moon when she took it out.

She went back to the others.

"Let's go back and rest" she said.

The others nodded.

Just as they were about to leave, Kairi spoke.

"A light at the end of the tunnel…"

That was part of the story that Hikari's mom told her.

"Oh, your grandma's story, right?" Sora asked.

Kairi nodded.

"That's right. We were together"

Sora rubbed his head.

"You know what's funny?" he asked.

"I looked everywhere for you, but you were with me all along"

He went up to her.

"Finally, we're together, Kairi"

Hikari smiled softly.

"Now, it's time to get Riku back"

"You think it'll ever be the same again between us?" Kairi asked.

"Riku's lost his…"

Hikari shook her head.

"No, he still has his heart" she said.

"When I turned into a heartless, he saved me"

Sora and Kairi looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

Hikari thought about when she was a heartless and how she floated aimlessly in the darkness.

"I was lost in the darkness" she said.

"I couldn't find my way. As I stumbled through the dark, I started forgetting things-my friends, who I was, I even forgot that I was terrified of the dark. The darkness almost swallowed me"

She looked at them and smiled softly.

"But then I heard a voice-Riku's voice. He brought me back"

"What did Riku say to you?" Kairi asked.

Hikari recalled what he said.

She remembered just floating through the darkness, not caring where she was or why she was there.

She then recalled someone holding her close the them and stopped her falling deeper within the darkness.

"_You don't belong here, Hikari. You should be surrounded by light. You saved me from the darkness, now it's my turn to do the same for you"_

She then remembered seeing the light from her pedant and was brought back to the others.

"He told me I needed to return to you guys. That I should return to the light" She said.

She then remembered that one line from her mother's story.

"No matter how deep the darkness may seem, a light will always shine within. I guess it was more than just a fairy tale"

Kairi nodded.

"Well, let's go!"

Sora panicked.

"You can't go!"

"Why not?" Kairi asked.

"Because it's way too dangerous"

Kairi pouted a little.

"Come on, Sora. We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone"

"Hikari will be with me, so I won't be alone" Sora protested.

"Then how come she can go but I can't?"

"I have to save Riku" Hikari said.

"Sora went on this journey to rescue you. Now I need to finish my journey and rescue Riku. Besides, we need to seal the keyhole"

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore" Sora said.

"I can't help?" Kairi asked.

"You'd kind of be in my way" Sora joked.

Kairi giggled.

"Ok. You win"

She pulled out her lucky charm that she made back on the islands and handed it to him.

"Take this" she said.

"It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me"

Sora nodded.

"Don't worry, I will"

"Promise?" Kairi asked.

"Promise"

Kairi grinned.

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you"

She turned to Hikari.

"Will you protect Sora for me?"

Hikari nodded.

"Promise" she said.

"And…I'm sorry"

"About what?"

Hikari looked away sadly.

"Back before you were asleep, Riku desperately tried to find you and get your heart back. I thought that meant that he liked you more than me, so a grew jealous. I didn't mean to, so I'm sorry"

Hikari went up to her and hugged her.

"You don't have to be jealous" She said.

"I'm not interested in Riku like that, he's more of a brother to me. Besides, I think he really loves you"

"Really?"

"Yep. He always did seem to blush when he looked at you"

Hikari smiled softly at that. Maybe she did have a chance.

"Thanks, Kairi"

"We should get going" Sora said.

"We need to seal that keyhole before things get worse"

Hikari nodded.

They said goodbye to Kairi and headed back for Hallow Bastion.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They found the Beast waiting for them when they returned.

"Where's Belle?" Hikari asked.

"Still in the castle" the Beast said.

"Against her will?" Goofy asked.

"No. I think she stayed for a reason" the Beast said.

"The other princesses are inside as well"

"I wonder why?" Donald asked.

"Let's go ask them" Sora said.

"You may need my strength" the Beast said.

"I'll go with you"

They nodded and headed back for the castle.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The whole place was crawling with heartless. There seemed to be more now than there were last time they were here.

Everyone fought their way to library to hide and take a break.

When they stepped in, they noticed someone upstairs.

The Beast went up to see who it was and found none other than Belle.

"Belle!" he cried.

They went up to each other and hugged one another.

Hikari smiled wistfully at the scene.

"_He finally got his princess back" _she thought.

They went up to her.

Belle looked at them.

"You came to seal the keyhole, right?" she asked.

Sora and Hikari nodded.

"Please be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer"

She turned to Hikari.

"You're one of the princesses, surely you feel the strain"

Now that she mentioned it, Hikari did feel like there was a weight being placed upon her chest. It wasn't so bad, but it didn't feel good.

They needed to seal the keyhole quickly.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it" she said.

They went out of the library and headed for the keyhole.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After a lot of fighting, they finally made it to the keyhole.

"All right. Let's seal this keyhole once and for all" Hikari said.

They ran through the heartless emblem and appeared in some sort of room. They saw the keyhole, but it was being blocked by a giant behemoth like heartless.

"These things just won't give up, will they?" Hikari asked.

They attacked the heartless with much difficulty.

Hikari learned the hard way that it liked to shoot beams out of its horn and it liked to spin around so it could knock everyone away.

They were lucky they had the Beast with them, otherwise this would have been a losing battle.

He was able to knock the heartless away with his strength.

After a long and hard battle, they managed to defeat the heartless.

"Finally" Hikari said.

"Now let's go and seal that big keyhole!" Goofy said.

"Sora, Hikari. You did it!"

Hikari gasped.

That was Leon's voice, just then.

Turning around, she ran out of the room to see Leon and the others waiting for them.

"Ni-san!"

She ran up to him and hugged him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked.

"We came in Cid's ship" Mikomi said.

"This is our childhood home" Aerith said.

"We wanted to see it again"

"It's in worse shape than I feared" Leon said.

"It used to be so peaceful…"

"Don't worry" Mikomi said.

"If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island"

"Really?" Sora asked.

Mikomi nodded.

"But , it also means goodbye" Yuffie said.

"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again. Everyone will go back to where they came from"

Hikari panicked.

She didn't want to be separated from her brother again. Not after they had just been reunited.

She looked at her brother.

"We can visit you with the Gummi ship, right?"

"It's not that simple" Leon said.

"Before all of this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right?" Mikomi asked.

"Because every world was isolated, impassable walls divided them. The heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls"

"Which means the Gummi ships will be useless" Leon finished.

"So you're saying we'll never…" Sora said.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other" Leon said.

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us back together again" Aerith added.

"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to" Mikomi said.

""What's that suppose to mean?" Sora asked.

Hikari felt tears pooling up in her eyes.

She would never see her brother again? True, this was her home world, but the islands were where she grew up most of her life. When it returned, she would probably go back there and not there.

Leon hugged her close to his chest when she started sobbing.

"It's ok, Hikari" he said softly.

"Just remember that no matter what happens, I'll always be your older brother."

He ran his hand through her hair.

"Always know that no matter where you go or what you do, your brother will always love you and keep you within his heart"

Hikari chocked on her sobs as she looked at him.

"And you'll always be within my heart too" she cried.

She continued to cry for a few more seconds before she heard voice again, only it seemed that this time everyone could hear it.

"_Awww, what a touching moment"_

Hikari gasped. She finally knew who that voiced belonged to.

"_I think it's time that I finally made my appearance"_

Hikari's pendant glowed brightly that it made everyone shield their eyes.

A sphere of light came out of the pendant and floated in front of Hikari and Leon, taking the shape of a person.

When the light died, Taiyouko stood before them.

Hikari gasped when she saw her mother in the flesh.

Taiyouko looked at her daughter and smiled at her.

"Hello, Hikari"

Hikari couldn't believe it. Her mother was alive and standing right in front of her. She wasn't an illusion.

"Mother!"

She ran up to her and hugged her tightly.

Leon was so shocked that he fell to his knees.

"Mom…" he said quietly.

Taiyouko smiled at her son.

"Hello, Leon. You've grown into such a handsome man"

Guilt spread across his face.

"I'm so sorry" he said weakly.

"I promised that I would protect Hikari when we got separated, but I failed. Forgive me"

Taiyouko smiled kindly at her son and knelt in front of him. She touched his face tenderly.

"You didn't do such thing" she said.

"You protected your sister the best that you could, and for that I am eternally grateful"

Leon looked up at his mom with tears in his eyes.

"Mom…"

Hikari was still stunned that her mother was right here. She thought that she perished with their world when the heartless invaded it.

She slowly walked up to her mother.

"Mother…how are you here?" she asked.

"I thought you perished with this world?"

Taiyouko looked at her daughter.

"When the heartless took over our world, I used the last of my power to seal a portion of my heart within your pendant. I've been with you this whole time, watching over you and helping you along your journey"

So she was the voice that she kept hearing.

Her mother was with her all along.

Tears filled up her eyes again.

"Mother…"

Taiyouko went up to her and wiped her tears away.

"Now, now. A princess shouldn't cry"

That's right, she knew about her being a princess.

"Mother…did you know what Ansem was going to do with the key hole? Did you know I would have a keyblade?"

Taiyouko nodded sadly.

"I tried to stop him a million times, but it never worked. I showed you bits of my memory so you would know what he was trying to do. I knew expected you to have one of the keyblades, but I'm glad you did, because it would it made it harder for Ansem to capture your heart. I'm so proud of you"

She looked at her two children.

"As for your little separation problem, I think I can fix that"

She held out her hand and brought fourth two spheres of light.

She waved her other hand over it and magically created a set of bracelet's that each had a piece of a broken heart.

She gave them each to her children.

"These are special bracelets" she said.

"They have the power to send you two back to each other. As long as you wear them, you'll be able to see each other again"

They both looked at their bracelets.

So they could still see each other after all.

Hikari smiled as she placed her bracelet on. Leon did the same as well.

She turned to her mother.

"Thank you, mother"

Taiyouko smiled.

She turned to Sora.

"Please keep an eye on my daughter"

Sora was dumbfounded by the whole thing, but he nodded anyway.

Taiyouko smiled at that.

"Well, I should probably go back into the pendant. I can't stay out of it for a long time"

"How come?" Hikari asked.

Taiyouko just placed a finger to her lips.

"It's a secret"

She turned into the sphere of light and went back into the pendant.

Hikari looked at it.

"Mom…"

"Hey you guys!" Donald shouted.

"The keyhole! Quick!" Goofy cried

"Good luck you two" Leon said.

Sora and Hikari nodded and went to seal the keyhole.

They went into the room and saw the keyhole glowing.

Pulling out their keyblades, they sealed the keyhole to Hallow Bastion once and for all.

"It's finally over" Hikari said.

"At least, for this world"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Deep within the realm of darkness, Riku walked aimlessly down a path.

He held his chest as he walked.

"_Is this…the afterlife?" _he thought.

He suddenly fell to his knees when the pain became too much.

"Sora…Kairi…I'm so sorry"

He clenched his eyes shut as they thought of a pair of green eyes.

"Hikari…" he breathed.

"How could I do that to you?....How could I have been so naïve to notice that you loved me?"

A tear ran down his face.

"If only I could see your face again"

"_Riku, can you hear me?" _

Riku opened his eyes when he heard a voice.

"Who's there?"

He stood up and looked around the darkness.

"_Your heart defeated the darkness, but you lost your body" _the voice said.

"_That's why your heart was left behind on this side of the darkness. You acquired the other keyblade- on this side"_

Riku grew confused.

"Keyblade?"

"_To close the door of darkness from both sides, you need three keys and three hearts"_

Riku thought about how the darkness almost destroyed him and how it nearly killed Hikari. He didn't want that to happen again.

"What do you want me to do?"

A bright light suddenly appeared before him.

"_Maybe you were destined to come here" _ the voice said.

"_Just like me"_

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

**A/N: Wow! Now that has got to be the longest chapter for this entire story! So Hikari was a princess and she found out who that voice belonged to.**

**At least she managed to save Riku, but will it be worth it?**

**Please send your reviews and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	20. End of the World

Chapter 20: End of the World

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sure you can tell that this will be the final chapter to this story, but fear not! This is just the first part of the 'Trail of Memories' saga. **

**And I know I haven't done the Winnie the Pooh world, but if you want me to add a bonus chapter for it, just let me know.**

**Thanks for sticking with me until the end, it means a lot to me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I only own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

/

After parting with her brother, Hikari and the others went to see how the other princesses were doing.

They were all waiting in the castle chapel and were all freed from their slumber.

They all smiled when they saw Sora and their fellow princess.

"Thank you Sora and Hikari" Alice said.

"I think the darkness has begun to weaken"

"But I feel a powerful darkness growing somewhere far away" Jasmine said.

"It's the heart of the darkness" Aurora said.

"It must be where Ansem went"

Hikari growled at the name. He was going to pay for everything that he did to her mother, Riku and herself.

"Then we'll take the Gummi ship and deal with both Ansem and the heartless" she said.

"A worthy answer from not only a keyblade master, but a princess of heart" Cinderella said.

"We offer this power to aid you"

They all upgraded their magic to three times to what it was before.

"Sora, Hikari, your courage can bring back our worlds" Snow White said.

"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state" Aurora said.

"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora asked.

"Most certainly" Cinderella said.

"And you both should be, too"

"We can't go home until we find Riku and the King" Hikari said.

The princesses wish them good luck as they left for their final destination.

As they were walking, Taiyouko spoke to Hikari.

"_Hikari, where you are about to go is where the heartless reside. It will be very dangerous"_

"_I'm well aware of that, Mom" _Hikari said to her.

"_But I'll be ok. If I was able to turn back from a heartless, then there should be no problem. I won't stop until I have Riku back"_

Taiyouko chuckled.

"_You really are my daughter. In that case, I will release your true powers as a princess of heart and as a sorceress"_

She felt her body glow with power. It felt so soft and warm as it wrapped around her.

"_The power of light is within your hands. Now not even the slightest bit of darkness can touch you"_

Hikari smiled at her mother's words.

"_Thank you"_

She followed Sora as they traveled back to the Gummi ship to finally settle the score.

/

The trip to the End of the World was dark and scary one. The path was even darker than the one towards Hallow Bastion.

If Hikari didn't have full control of the light, she would be trembling within her seat.

Through her travels, she was able to overcome her fears of the dark. She was still afraid of it, but not nearly as much as she used to.

She simply prayed that they would be able to find Riku and restore all of the lost worlds, including their island.

"_I know we're taking a gamble with this, but if we're able to make this far, then who's to say that we can't?"_

She gripped her pendant as they grew closer to the End of the World.

"_It's like I always say, I've come too far to quit now"_

She spent the rest of the trip reading the rest of Ansem's report.

Leon and the others had found the rest in the library, so they decided to give it to her.

"_Maybe it'll hold clues on how to defeat Ansem" _Leon said.

She didn't know if that was true, but it wouldn't hurt to find out.

She read the first of the reports given to her.

"_Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. _

_The same can be said of the stars in the night sky._

_And deep within each world lies a door to its heart._

_The heartless desire those hearts._

_Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart._

_Yes, that's it._

_The heartless come from people's hearts, as do the darkness._

_Is the core of the world's heart the world of the heartless?_

_I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing._

_My path is set._

_I shall seek the wielder of the keyblades ,and the princesses._

_My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. _

_I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness"_

Hikari mulled over what she had just read.

"_So that's why he used Riku's body. He cast aside his old one and he needed a new host to control his powers"_

She growled at that.

"_How dare he do that to Riku? I'll make sure he pays"_

She read the next entry.

"_Upon opening the door of a world's heart, the wall around that world is broken down._

_This is seen as a shooting star._

_Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds._

_A world's wall collapse because of the appearance of the heartless, but finding a world's door takes time._

_And robbing a word of its heart is a similar case._

_If the door has been closed by the keyblades, one would probably be unable to reach that world's heart again._

_Before the keyblade wielders appear on this world, I must take measures to do something._

_Supposing that there is a close relationship between the keyblades and the princesses, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other._

_I have chosen a special girl._

_I do not know if she possesses the power of the princesses, but there is a chance, and this is an experiment._

_She may lead me to a place where the ones holding the keys are…._

_I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds"_

She reread it.

"_Special girl? Did he mean me?"_

"_Yes" _Taiyouko said.

"_He noticed that you reacted differently towards the light than others, so he thought you were one of the princesses. I doubt he knew you were one of the keyblade wielders, otherwise he would have kept you near him at all times"_

So it was his fault that she was sent to the islands. He wanted her to track out the keyblade wielder just so he could have the keyholes revealed?

"_Selfish jerk" _she thought.

"_But then again, I did get to meet Riku because of him, but that's not the point"_

She read the next report.

"_I have transcended to an existence of only the heart._

_I should have come back as a heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation._

_My body has surely perished._

_However, I am different from the other heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a heartless. _

_It is evident that there are still many things to be studied._

_In order to cross over to the dark realm, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds._

_There are still so many unknown worlds._

_The realm of the Present….The realm of Darkness. The Realm of light._

_And, the realm of in-between._

_In which one will in find sanctuary ?"_

She didn't think much on that entry.

She figured after everything that she had seen and went through, there were other places out there than just worlds.

"_Knowing Ansem, or what I've remembered about him, he must have went to the realm of darkness"_

She read the last entry.

"_When the heart casts away the body, where does the body go?_

_Heart and soul are separate, and the soul remains in the body._

_But can we assume that the remaining body and soul perish?_

_Certainly when the heart changes into a heartless, the body disappears._

_Or does that apply solely to the realm? Could other beings similar to the heartless exist in another realm?_

_If we take that to the case, then there must be another form of oneself elsewhere._

_An existence neither of darkness nor of light._

_An in-between existence._

_Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light._

_This mystery cannot be easily resolved._

_The relationship between the heart and the body is a complex one._

_But since we exist in this realm, out counterparts of another realm must not be existent._

_Therefore I shall call them…._

'_The non-existent ones'_

'The non-existent ones'?

There were other beings out there besides the heartless?

"_Mother, do you know about this?" _Hikari asked.

She could hear her mother sighing sadly.

"_Yes" _she said.

"_But I can't tell you about it right now. We're almost at your final destination and you can't be distracted by such useless information. I'll tell you once this is all over"_

She didn't say anything, but just looked out the window.

She prayed that this journey wouldn't end badly for everyone.

/

Stepping out of the Gummi ship, the group walked out into the barren waste lands that made up the End of the World.

There was barely anything left to this world it seemed. There were no life forms and hardly a landscape. It was just an endless void of darkness.

"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the heartless?" Goofy asked.

"Those worlds will be restored once we beat Ansem, right?" Hikari asked.

"_That is correct" _Taiyouko said.

"_Ansem has full control of this world. Once you destroy him, this place will vanish"_

"You bettcha " Donald said.

"But, if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's going to happen to this place? And to us?" Sora asked.

"Well, uh…" Donald said.

"This is a heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear" Goofy said.

Everyone looked at him.

"But no worries. Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again. I just know it"

Hikari smiled at him.

Despite looking naïve, he could be really smart.

"Yeah. You're right" Sora said.

He pulled out Kairi's lucky charm.

Hikari touched her pendant.

"_Mother, please give me strength"_

"_Don't worry, my dear. I'll illuminate your path"_

Hikari looked at the path that she was to follow.

"_Hang on, Riku. I'm coming for you"_

They walked through the endless abyss that made the gate to the dark.

The heartless here were beyond powerful and push everyone to their limits.

Since Hikari had control of the light now, she was able to vanquish the heartless and set their captured hearts free.

She could gather light into her hand or her keyblade and impale the heartless with it. She could even have pillars of light surround her and spin around her, making a shield.

Hikari had never felt so strong before in her life. The power of light was far greater than the power of darkness it seemed.

They continued onward until they finally reached the End of the World.

/

The last area that they entered was a lot darker than where they just were. Dark crystals stuck out from every part of this area. It was like stepping into a cave almost.

"I wonder where that Ansem feller went?" Goofy asked.

"Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him" Donald said.

They climbed down the slopes of the area until they reached an opening that was coming from the ground. It seemed to glow brightly, as if beckoning anyone to enter it.

Since there was nowhere else to go in this area, they jumped through it and entered the World Terminus.

The Terminus was a structure set up by glowing pillars.

Sora stepped to the first one to see where it would take them.

They all wounded up with what appeared to be the third district of Traverse Town.

"_Traverse Town? But I thought we were at the End of the World?"_

"_You are Hikari" _Taiyouko said.

"_This is how the heartless get to other worlds. This is merely an illusion. Once you destroy the illusion, you should be able to return to the Terminus and head to the next pillar"_

They fought with the heartless that appeared in 'Traverse Town' and were sent back to the Terminus. The only way that they could move forward was if they went through each pillar.

They appeared in worlds that they had traveled before and fought the heartless that were sent there.

When they got to the Hallow Bastion illusion, they fought off the heartless and were taken into a room that held some type of device.

Hikari went up to the device and saw something written on it.

"Hey, there's something written here"

"What does it say?" Sora said.

Hikari read it out loud.

"_Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring destruction._

_Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart._

_All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all._

_Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts._

_The greatest darkness sealed within the great heart._

_Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness._

_For the heart of light shall unseal the path._

_Eight hearts, two keyblades, two keys to the door._

_The door of darkness, tied by three keys._

_The door of darkness to seal the light._

_None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness._

_Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens"_

"What in the world does that mean?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I have no idea, but this is Ansem's writing" she said.

"What is Kingdom Hearts?"

"_Kingdom Hearts" _Taiyouko said.

"_The heart of all worlds"_

They were pulled out of the Hallow Bastion illusion and reached the end of the Terminus.

The only way they could move forward was to go through the opening in the ground.

They jumped through and made to an area that was pitch black.

/

They could all fly within the area. There seemed to be nothing here, but the dark aura that they felt to them otherwise.

They flew around the area until they meet the Cherabong.

The Cherabong was a huge dark creature that had black bat wings and stood on top of a volcano.

Its whole being reeked of darkness as he stood before them all.

Hikari gasped at the sight of the dark guardian. She had never seen anything so huge before in her life.

She didn't know if she could fight it.

"_Don't worry, Hikari" _Taiyouko.

"_Although it wields the power of darkness, you wield the power of light. It shall not harm you at all"_

They fought the mighty beast with great difficulty.

It wielded such powerful attacks and used them to its advantage.

Hikari flew out of the way and shot beams of light out of her keyblade.

If this thing liked to fight with darkness, then she was going to fight with light.

She clasped her hands together as if she were praying.

"_Mother…please help me defeat this being of darkness"_

"_Have no fear, my child. The light will shine on you"_

She felt her body glow with power.

"_The power of light"_

She opened her eyes and faced the Chernabog.

"Oh purest of light! Heed my call! Vanquish the darkness from this realm!"

Light shot out of her hands and hit the Chernabog square in the chest.

The vile creature let out a painful roar before disintegrating into particles of nothingness.

Sora flew over towards her and high fived her.

"Way to go, Hikari!"

Hikari smiled at him.

"Thanks, now let's go"

They flew down through the volcanic opening where the Chernabog once stood and went within another area in this realm of darkness.

/

The volcanic crater was lined with ledges.

The only way they could get down is by jumping from ledge to ledge. They thought about just jumping straight down, but that would have been dangerous.

Hikari held her pendant as they kept walking.

"I hope Riku is ok" She said.

Sora looked at her.

"Of course he is" he said.

"If we were able to rescue Kairi, then we should be able to rescue him with no problem. All we have to do is defeat Ansem"

Hikari frowned at that.

From what she could remember of him, Ansem was a very powerful being. His skills rivaled that with her mothers.

"I don't think beating him will be so easy" she said.

"This man not only corrupted my world with the heartless, but the other worlds as well"

She waved her hands around the place that they were standing.

"This world is his dominion. He has complete control of the darkness and I'm sure he's had it for quite some time. Unlike him, we're practically new at all of this. We just became keyblade masters and there are still things that we don't know about our keys. What chance do we have of beating him?"

Sora thought about it.

"Don't know" he said.

"But that shouldn't stop us from trying. We came this far with our strength alone. If we were able to get this far, then maybe we can stop Ansem"

He grinned at her.

"Sure, it might be a gamble, but we've come too far to quit now. What become a coward at the last minute?"

Hikari smirked at him.

He did have a point.

They came this far with one objective in mind: get their friends back.

Kairi was already rescued, so they only had one more friend to go.

"_This is my chance to prove myself" _she thought.

"_I'm going to stop Ansem and prove to Riku just how much I love him. I'm not going to let some old man who wields the power of darkness stop me"_

They kept walking forward and went into the deepest, darkest part of this world.

/

They eventually came into a room that had a green floor. Off on the farthest wall from them, they spotted a heartless emblem engraved into it.

Hikari looked at her pendant and saw that a beam of light was pointing towards it.

"I guess we have to go through there" she said.

Sora went up to it.

"How do we get through?" he asked.

"Maybe we have to break the emblem" Goofy said.

Sora pulled out his keyblade and went to strike it.

He was about to before a group of heartless appeared.

"It looks like we have company" Donald said

Sora ditched the emblem and went to help his friends.

Hikari quickly summoned up Mushu and had the little dragon blast away the heartless that were near her.

(A/N: I forgot to mention the other summons. Just to clear things up, Hikari can summon Simba, Tinker Bell and Mushu while Sora can summon Genie, Dumbo and Bambi. Sorry for the inconvenience!)

AS they were fighting, Hikari noticed that parts of the heartless emblem were breaking off whenever they finished off a group of heartless.

It clicked in her head that these heartless were suppose to protect the seal and whenever they were defeated, part of the seal was broken off.

She warned everyone about the seal and fought off the heartless.

Out of all of the worlds that they had been on, this world was the toughest they've ever been on.

Since this is where the heartless were from, that meant only the strongest kind dwindled here. Ansem must have made it that way in case people like them every came here, then the heartless could keep them at bay.

The more they fought, the more the emblem broke off.

There was only one piece left which meant that there was only one more group of heartless left.

This last batch was the hardest, and it was no surprise since they guarded the last piece to the seal.

Hikari used the power of light to rid of the heartless while Sora, Donald and Goofy fought alongside her.

When the heartless were destroyed, the seal broke off completely and revealed the entry way to another room.

They went into the room and found a grand set of doors standing before them.

"This is it, guys" Sora said.

"The final showdown"

Hikari held her necklace.

"_Mom…do you think we have what it takes to defeat Ansem? Can we destroy him and this world?"_

Taiyouko giggled.

"_Fear not, Hikari. Although there isn't a single glimmer of light beyond this door, there's nothing to fear about. Your heart is the mightiest weapon. You're not only a keyblade master, but also a princess of light. You have what it takes to stop him"_

Hikari swallowed down her nerves and looked at the others.

"You guys ready?" she asked.

"Once we step through this door, there's no turning back"

Sora grinned.

"No problem" he said.

"We'll stop Ansem together"

Goofy held his hand out.

"We stick through this till the end"

Donald placed his hand over Goofy's.

"All for one and one for all"

Sora placed his hand on top.

"There's nothing we can't beat together"

Hikari smirked and placed her hand over theirs.

"Friends until the end. We always be together"

With that, they broke off and faced the door.

"Let's end this once and for all" Sora said.

He opened the door.

Everyone was blinded by a white light and they were pulled to the other side.

/

The light faded away and revealed a place Sora and Hikari thought they would never see again.

They were standing back on their island.

"Is this…is this our island?" Sora asked.

Hikari was at a loss for words.

Everything looked the same as it did before that storm.

It was like as if nothing happened to it.

She suddenly remembered her picture she drew in the secret spot.

"_I hope nothings happened to it"_

She ran to the spot, only to be stopped by a voice.

"This world has been connected"

Goofy looked around.

"What was that?"

Parts of the island started to disappear.

"Tied to the darkness…." The voice continued.

"Soon to be completely eclipsed. There is so very much to learn. You understand so little. A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing"

It dawned on Hikari that she heard this voice before. It was the same one that she heard back on the islands where that creepy guy was watching her in the cave.

"_Was it Ansem?"_

She looked off to the beach to see the back of the one person she was looking for this whole time.

"Riku!"

She ran up to him.

"Riku, you're alright!"

She skidded to a stop when she got close to him.

Sora and the others stood next to her.

Hikari grinned as she looked at Riku.

She was so worried that something happened to him, but he was standing right in front of her.

Her grin fell when she heard Ansem's voice instead of Riku's.

"Take a look at this tiny place" he said.

"To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison surrounded by water. And so this boy sought out to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness"

He transformed himself back to his original form.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

Ansem just laughed at her.

"So you've survived, princess? I'm sure you're mother had something to do with that"

Hikari glared at him as she held her necklace.

"Where's Riku? Bring him back to me!"

"Don't bother" Ansem said.

"Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again in darkness"

"No" Sora said.

Ansem grinned evilly at them.

"All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it. Such is it's nature"

He suddenly appeared behind them.

"In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came"

They all jumped back and kept their distance from him.

"You see" Ansem said.

"Darkness is the heart's true essence"

"That's not true!" Sora said.

"The heart may be weak. And sometimes, it may even give in"

Sora was thinking about Riku as he said those things.

"But we've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"

Hikari nodded.

"No matter how deep the darkness may seem, a light will always shine within. You can't have one without the other. Light and darkness make up the heart, not just one essence"

Ansem suddenly floated up into the air.

"So you have come this far and still you understand nothing" He said.

"Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!"

He summoned up his dark guardian and attacked them.

Hikari jumped out of the way and cast her magic on him.

She wasn't really effecting him or his shadow with the level of skills she was using.

Sora and the others weren't really doing well either.

If they weren't attacking, they were avoiding the guardians attacks.

It seemed to be doing all of the dirty work for Ansem.

Hikari studied it while she was fighting with Ansem.

From the looks of the creature, it seemed to look like it was made out of darkness.

It fought and used skills that only heartless would use, so maybe this is like a giant heartless attached to Ansem.

She also noticed that whenever she attacked the guardian, it seemed to effect Ansem.

"_If that's the case, then maybe this will work"_

She pointed her keyblade at them and shot off a beam of light at them.

It hit the guardian dead in the center and caused Ansem to dismiss it.

The injured Ansem floated away to another part of the island.

"Come back here, you coward!" Sora shouted.

They ran after him as he fled towards the deformed part of the island.

Sora and Hikari entered the deformed part of the island while Donald and Goofy were blocked out by some barrier.

"Donald! Goofy!" Hikari cried.

The ground around them shook.

Sora and Hikari looked around to see what could be causing it and found the darkside standing before them once again.

"I thought we beat this guy already?" Hikari asked.

Sora pulled out his keyblade.

"Looks like once wasn't enough. Maybe another round will keep it down for good"

They attacked the giant heartless.

Since they fought it once before, they knew all of its little tricks and how it fought.

Fighting this enemy was a lot easier than what they thought it would be.

Sora gave it a good hit in the head and watched as it disappeared for good.

"That's right, and don't come back again!"

He looked around the area.

"Come out Ansem! Fight like a man!"

Ansem appeared before them with his guardian back.

He floated above them, making him look more menacing.

"Did you have to piss him off, Sora?" Hikari asked.

They both jumped out of the way when he launched his dark guardian at them.

Since it was just the two of them fighting, it was a lot harder to fight him than it was when Donald and Goofy were helping.

Hikari tried using her power of light, but it didn't seem to have an effect on the evil man.

The Guardian went underground and popped up in front of them, catching them off guard.

It swung them into one of the walls and watched as they crashed and fell to the ground.

Hikari sat up while Sora rubbed his head.

"There's no way we can beat him on our own" she said.

She was running low on potions and she figured Sora was out of his.

She got up on her feet and helped Sora up.

Ansem just looked at them with amusement.

"Is that the best you can do?" he asked them.

"The great and mighty keyblade bearers, who are hardly teenagers, can't stand up against me, the ruler of darkness?"

He laughed at that.

"You were a fool, Taiyouko. You said you would prevent me from opening the final door, yet your precious daughter can't even stand up to me. How pitiful"

Hikari grew angry at that.

How dare he insult her and her mother like that?

She growled and charged at him.

Ansem just smirked as she ran up to him.

"Charging like that won't do you any good" he told her.

"You should have known that from last time. You should be lucky that you were able to get your body back"

Hikari just clashed her keyblade with his dark guardian.

"Yeah? Well last time, I was able to get you to release Riku's body! Just because I'm one of the princesses of light doesn't mean I'm some damsel in distress!"

She flipped back when the dark guardian swung at her.

"I came here for one reason and one reason only! I'm going to stop you from taking over other worlds using the heartless. You should know by now that you'll gain nothing by using the power of darkness. It doesn't matter how strong your heart may be, it'll still eat away at you. It has for everyone that's wielded the power of darkness. They became puppets in order to gain power. You're no different!"

Ansem glared at her.

"You insolent little!"

He didn't realize that while Hikari was talking to him, Sora snuck behind him so they could do a double hit attack.

When Hikari secretly saw that he was in place, she pulled out her keyblade and pointed it to Ansem.

"This is payback for trying to take my heart and use it for your own selfish reasons"

She charged at him while Sora ran towards his back.

Their keyblades connected with his body, digging deep within his chest.

Ansem was surprised that these two children could take him off guard like that.

He glared at Hikari.

"You are just like your mother in every single way" he hissed.

"She always had to interfere with my goals and dreams. She could never accept the fact that the darkness is stronger than the light"

He grinned evilly at her.

"But now I'll finally show her just how wrong she really was"

He suddenly disappeared.

The islands disappeared and left everyone in a black empty void.

/

Everyone floated around and tried to figure out where they were.

"What's going on?" Sora said.

"I can't see anything!"

Hikari was panicking inwardly.

Despite everything that went through on this journey, she was still afraid of the dark.

The very fact that she was floating within a realm of darkness set her on edge and made her flip out at the slightest movement.

"_Don't be afraid, Hikari" _Taiyouko said.

"_The darkness will not harm you, so long as you believe in the light. You have nothing to fear"_

Just then, a set of pure white doors appeared before them.

"Behold the endless abyss!" Ansem cried.

"Within it lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!"

Hikari tried to find out where Ansem was.

She could hear him clearly, but she couldn't see him.

"Look as hard as you are able" Ansem said.

"You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours"

Hikari looked down and gasped.

She found Ansem alright, but now he was connected to a massive ship like version of his guardian.

It looked so menacing that it made her skin crawl.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem cried.

Everyone suddenly lost the ability to fly and they started falling.

Donald and Goofy were pulled into one of the voids that made up the massive heartless while Sora and Hikari fell into nothingness.

Hikari screamed a little as she was falling.

She was terrified beyond all reason of this realm and now she was going to be trapped within it forever.

"_Somebody help me!" _she cried in her head.

A tear fell from her face as she reached her hand out for someone, only to grab nothing.

She tried searching for Sora, but she couldn't see anything.

"_I'm going to be trapped within this realm alone!" _she thought.

"_Help me!"_

She could hear someone laughing in her head.

"_You're still afraid of the dark?" _

Hikari gasped.

That was Riku's voice.

"_Come on, Hikari. I know you're a lot tougher than that"_

She felt like someone was grabbing her hand and pulling her up.

"_But, since I think you're so cute, I'll give you a little push"_

She felt herself flying back up to where Ansem was.

She spotted Sora flying up to it as well.

"Sora!"

Sora saw her and flew towards her.

"You ok?" he asked.

She nodded.

She pulled out her keyblade and looked at Ansem.

"Let's go save Donald and Goofy"

Sora nodded and pulled out his keyblade as well.

"_Thank you, Riku" _she thought as she flew towards Ansem.

The evil ruler of darkness seemed to be connected to his guardian by these cords that were stuck into his back.

He held a weapon that was similar to Riku's Soul Eater.

"Turn to darkness!" Ansem cried.

Sora and Hikari flew out of the way as he tried to attack them.

Since they could fly, they were able to attack him without getting hit by him.

They also had to avoid these beams that he would send out to them.

As they fought, Taiyouko sent Hikari tips about his weak spots.

"_He's connected to the heartless. If you destroy parts of the heartless, you'll be able to make him weaker, but you need to knock him out first in order to do that"_

They kept attack Ansem until he ran out of energy.

He dismissed his weapon and surrounded himself in a heartless like cocoon.

A portal leading to the inside of the heartless opened for them.

Sora grabbed her hand and flew them inside it.

/

The portal lead to a very dark area.

It was so pitch black that neither Sora nor Hikari could see in front of their hands.

"What do we do?" Sora asked.

"I can't see a thing"

"_Perhaps I can be of some help" _Taiyouko said.

Hikari's pendant glowed and made the room brighter to where they could actually see.

They were able to see all of the heartless that filled up the room.

They were only but shadows, so they didn't have to worry about fighting difficult heartless.

They slashed through them until there were none left to fight.

They were thrown out of the portal and stood before Ansem's heartless again.

Another portal appeared before them, but it was block by these tentacles that were sticking out of the heartless.

"_You have to destroy the tentacles if you want to open up the portal" _Taiyouko said.

They attacked the tentacles, but they had to be careful. Just because Ansem was asleep, didn't mean that his guardian wasn't. The thing kept attacking them to prevent them from opening up the other portal.

They finally managed to do it and were able to go through the portal.

They landed in another dark room, but they weren't alone this time.

"Sora! Hikari!"

Goofy ran up to them.

"Goofy!" Hikari cried.

She would have hugged him, but they were surrounded by heartless.

They got rid of the heartless before they were thrown out of the portal.

The head of the ship came to life and started to attack them.

With Goofy back with them, Sora was able to fight the head while Hikari stood back and cast her magic on it while healing everyone when it was called for.

When the head was defeated, it opened up a portal for them to enter.

They were went in another dark room and were reunited with Donald.

"Donald! You're ok!" Hikari cried.

They got rid of the heartless that were within the room before going out of the portal.

The cause of the destroyed heartless resulted in the head exploding.

That in turn caused the barrier surrounding the core to disappear, leaving it vulnerable.

They flew towards it and attacked it without mercy.

Since the core was vulnerable, it was easy to destroy.

/

The result of Ansem's heartless being practically destroyed caused him to awaken from his slumber.

He came out of his cocoon and summoned up his weapon.

Fighting him was a lot easier with Donald and Goofy with them.

They were able to fight Ansem better than when it was just Sora and Hikari.

Hikari felt her energy leaving her.

Fighting Ansem without taking a break was really straining her.

She didn't know if she could finish him off.

It seemed like everyone else was the same way.

They were all starting to get tired too, but they refused to quit. They wouldn't stop until Ansem was defeated.

Hikari gripped her keyblade tightly and flew back into the fray.

She wasn't going to let them finish off her enemy.

She had more of a reason to finish off Ansem than any of the guys.

He destroyed her home. He tried to use her heart to achieve his goals and succeeded. He tormented her mother to no end with his obsession of the heart. He separated her from Leon as a child. He made hundreds of worlds plunge to darkness and tormented the ones that were still in tack with his heartless. And he used Riku as a puppet for his plans.

She growled at that.

Nobody messed with the love of her life. Nobody!

She pointed her keyblade at Ansem and watched as it glowed with the power of light.

"_For all of those who suffered at the hands of this man and to those who lost their worlds" _She thought.

"_This is for you"_

The beam of light glowed brightly and shot out of her keyblade.

The light hit Ansem in his chest where his heart should be.

Everything seemed to stop after that.

One moment, the heartless was intact and then the next it exploded.

Ansem was severed from his heartless and everything around him exploded.

Hikari panicked when she realized that they were close enough to got caught up in the explosion.

There was no way that they would be able to fly way without getting seriously hurt.

Sora tired to find a safe place to hide but there was none.

"We're going to die!" Donald cried.

Goofy screamed in panic and looked around desperately.

Hikari felt like screaming as well.

She had come so far to defeating Ansem, she didn't want to die.

Just then, Taiyouko shot out of Hikari's pendant and drew out her staff.

"Everyone! Get behind me!"

Everyone flew towards her and held onto her dress tightly.

Taiyouko waved her staff and created a shield of light around them just as the heartless exploded to smithereens.

Everyone held onto Taiyouko tightly as they felt the shock waves of the explosion.

They had their eyes closed, fearing they might see.

When they shockwaves ended, they opened their eyes slowly to see the heartless was gone and that they were still alive.

Taiyouko dismissed the barrier and looked at the other.

She gave them a gentle smile.

"Well done everyone. I'm so proud of you"

Hikari looked at her mom and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, mom"

Taiyouko ran a hand through her hair.

"I should be the one to thank you" she said.

"You were able to do something not even I could accomplish. It just shows that even your light is brighter than mine"

Hikari smiled at her mom.

"At least we defeated Ansem. Now everything will go back to the way it was"

Taiyouko's grin faltered.

"I'm afraid it's not over yet, honey"

"What do you mean?"

Taiyouko looked over her shoulder.

Hikari followed her gaze and gasped.

Ansem was floated before them, but appeared to be in pain.

He gasped deeply as he glared at Taiyouko.

"So you decided to show up at the last minute, Taiyouko" he rasped.

"How predictable of you"

Taiyouko just him a cold stare.

"I simply didn't want to intervene with my daughter's battle" she said.

"I had complete faith in her and Sora, and I knew that they would be the ones to defeat you. It just shows that light is stronger than darkness"

Ansem laughed darkly.

"You still believe in that nonsense? Have you not seen how far I was able to accomplish my goals thanks to the power of darkness? I proved that the light was far more weaker than darkness"

"What you proved" Taiyouko said.

"Is how desperate the heart can actually be. It doesn't matter how strong it may be, it will still fall into temptation. You're obsession with the heart of all worlds has proved that. And look where it has lead you. You have no strength left and your guardian is destroyed. You are nothing"

She turned to Sora and Hikari.

"You must seal Kingdom Hearts before it is too late"

They nodded and were about to do it, but Ansem just laughed at them.

"It is futile" he said.

"The keyblades alone cannot seal the door to darkness"

He turned to Kingdom Hearts and held his hand out towards it.

"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness…"

The doors opened a little, letting out black smoke in the process.

"Supreme Darkness!" Ansem declared.

Hikari suddenly remembered the story that her mother told her about light and darkness.

"_No matter how deep the darkness may seem, a light will always shine within"_

It suddenly dawned on her that Kingdom Hearts was that light.

"You're wrong!" she cried.

"I know now, without a doubt. Kingdom Hearts…is light!"

Just then light poured out of the door, engulfing Ansem.

"What?"

He cried out in pain as his body was destroyed.

Donald cheered.

"We did it!"

Hikari grinned and looked at her mother.

"I guess it was more than just a fairy tale" she said.

"This is what you were trying to tell me all these years ago"

Taiyouko grinned at her.

"I knew you would figure it out" she said.

She hugged her daughter tightly.

"But Kingdom Hearts cannot stay open. It must be seal shut so the heartless can't get to it"

She pulled back and looked at her.

"I'm sure you know what needs to be done?"

Hikari nodded.

"You can count on me"

Taiyouko grinned.

"In that case, I leave the rest up to you"

She disappeared and went back into Hikari's pendant.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"Come on! We need to seal the doors!"

Sora nodded and they all went towards Kingdom Hearts.

/

They all ran up to Kingdom Hearts and tried to push the doors closed. Donald and Goofy pushed one door while Sora and Hikari pushed the other.

"Come on!" Sora cried.

They put all of their weight into pushing the doors, but they hardly moved an inch.

They were so heavy.

Goofy looked on the other side to see what was there and yelled.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald ordered.

He looked on the other side as well to see what would spoke Goofy and nearly yelped.

On the other side of the doors were masses of the heartless.

Hikari nearly screamed when she saw how many there were.

"The heartless!" They cried

"Hurry!" Donald cried.

Hikari pushed as hard as she could, but she was weak from all of the fighting she went through.

Sora was pretty much the same.

"I can't…"

A hand shot from the other side and grabbed the door.

"Don't give up!"

They looked up and saw Riku standing on the other side.

"Come on you two, together we can do it!"

Hikari gasped as she saw Riku.

He was alive. He was ok.

"Riku!"

Riku looked at her and smiled sadly.

"Hikari, you're ok" he said.

"I'm so glad"

Hikari could feel tears forming in her eyes.

"You're back" she choked.

Riku nodded.

"Thanks to you. I'm so sorry for everything. I didn't mean it"

Hikari smiled weakly at him.

"I know"

Riku started pulling the door towards him while Sora pushed on it.

Hikari panicked.

If they closed the door, Riku would be on the other side.

She quickly held her hand out to him.

"Hurry, Riku! Come on this side!"

Riku looked at her and shook his head.

"The door needs to be closed on both sides" he said.

"I have to stay on this side"

The tears fell from her face.

He had to be stuck on the other side? He had to be trapped with the heartless?

"No!" she cried.

She had come so far to finding him. She wasn't going to lose him after everything that she went through.

Just then tow darksides appeared before them.

They were running out of time.

"It's hopeless!" Donald cried.

Just when things were starting to get bad, the darksides were destroyed by someone.

Donald and Goofy's eyes widen when they realized who it was.

King Mickey suddenly appeared before them.

"Your Majesty!" They cried.

King Mickey pulled out his keyblade.

"Now Sora and Hikari, let's close this door for good!" he said.

"Close it, quick!" Donald said.

Hikari still had tears in her eyes.

She didn't want to leave Riku on the other side.

"But…"

The King seemed to sense her uneasiness.

"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light"

"Hikari, you can trust King Mickey" Goofy said.

"_He's right" _Taiyouko said.

"_You'll see him again, I promise. Your hearts are connected after all"_

Hikari looked at Riku for a moment, then at her pendant.

She suddenly remembered Kairi giving Sora his lucky charm as a way for him to promise to come back to her.

She quickly pulled of her necklace and kissed.

"_Mother, I know we just been reunited" _she said.

"_But please protect Riku. Bring him back to me safe and sound"_

She could hear Taiyouko chuckling.

"_I'll protect him with my life" _She said.

"_And remember, I'll always be with you"_

"_I love you mom" _Hikari said.

"_I love you too"_

Hikari looked at Riku.

"Riku!"

She grabbed his hand and placed her pendant in it.

"It's like I said before. My heart always belonged to you, it always has"

Riku looked at the pendant.

He knew how much it meant to her.

"Hikari…" he said.

She smiled at him as tears fell from her eyes.

"It's my lucky charm, be sure to bring it back to me on the islands" she said.

"Promise!"

Riku looked at her and gave her a small smile.

He leaned forward and softly kissed her on the lips.

"I promise"

He turned to the King.

"Now! They're coming!"

The king turned to Donald and Goofy.

"Donald, Goofy. Thank you"

Riku looked at Sora.

"Take care of her" he said, referring to Kairi.

"And protect Hikari for me until I come back"

Sora nodded.

The doors started to closes all the way.

Hikari felt herself crying.

She had to see the one that she loved most be locked up on the other side of Kingdom Hearts.

"Hikari"

She looked up and saw Riku's face.

He smiled at her as he mouthed something to her.

She gasped when she realized what he said.

"_I love you"_

Riku smiled at her as the doors closed completely .

Sora and Hikari drew out their keyblades and sealed Kingdom Hearts on their side while King Mickey did so on his side.

Kingdom Hearts glowed before disappearing completely.

Hikari looked at the spot where the doors once stood.

Tears ran down her face.

He confessed his feelings to her.

He admitted that he loved her.

She smiled as she touched her lips.

"_He really does love me"_

Sora smiled at Hikari. He knew that Riku loved her.

Just then, he sensed someone behind him.

He turned around and saw Kairi standing a little ways off looking confused at her surroundings.

Hikari saw her too and gasped.

"Kairi!"

They both ran to their friend.

Donald went to follow them too, but Goofy stopped him, letting him know that they had to say goodbye to their friend.

/

Sand started to surround Kairi.

She looked at it in amazement as the area grew bigger and bigger.

"Kairi!"

She looked up to see Sora and Hikari.

"Sora, Hikari"

Hikari stood back a little so she give Sora his space.

Just then, the sand broke off from the ground and started to move away.

Kairi nearly lost her balance, but Sora caught her hand.

"Kairi, remember what you said before?" he asked.

"I'm always with you too"

Hikari smiled at her best friend.

"We'll come back to you, we promise"

Kairi looked at them sadly.

"I know you will!"

Just then, the area of sand pulled her away from Sora and Hikari.

Kairi held her hand out towards them as their islands started to return.

Glimmers of light showered down on her and created the islands.

She watched as Sora and Hikari grew smaller and smaller.

She saw Sora say something to her, but she couldn't hear what it was.

She watched as they disappeared while she returned back to her world.

She watched as all of the worlds that were lost in the darkness return to the sky to make up the stars.

She smiled wistfully as her island returned completely.

She walked to the secret cave where they used to draw on the walls.

She stopped to the portrait of herself and Sora. She noticed that there was a Paopu being given to her by Sora.

She smiled at the picture as a tear ran down her face.

She saw Hikari's picture was the same thing, only her giving one to Riku.

She picked up a rock and drew herself giving Sora a Paopu fruit to Sora and drew Hikari's pendant over Riku and Hikari's face.

No matter how long it would be, she would wait until her friends returned to her.

"I know we'll see each other again soon"

/

**A/N: And there you have it! That was the last main chapter to the story. Now we have the bonus chapter and the epilogue.**

**So Riku confessed his feelings to Hikari, and he even kissed her too. Just wait until they're reunited again.**

**Please review so I can update this story.**

**Ja ne!**


	21. Hundred Acre Woods

Chapter 21: Hundred Acre Woods

**A/N:Hello my darling fans! I must say that I got a lot of reviews from the last chapter. Since you were so nice to review, I've decided to do Winnie the Pooh for you. (Plus, Hikari did go through all the trouble of finding the missing pages, so it wouldn't be right if I didn't talk about it) **

**And just for the record, if I don't have the pages in order, I apologize, it's been a while since I played this world.**

**Also, I'm working on a Hellsing Fanfic, so all of you Hellsing fans, keep an eye out!**

**Here's to all my lovely fans.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I simply own my characters.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone was sitting at Merlin's house in Traverse Town.

Hikari had manage to find all of the missing pages to Merlin's book and put them back in their rightful place.

"I can't believe you found all of those pages" Sora said.

Hikari grinned.

"Well, it was one of our duties on this trip. I collected all of the pages and all of Ansem's report while you just goofed off"

Sora made a face at her.

"Whatever.

Merlin looked at the book to see that it was back together again.

"Well done, Hikari. I can't thank you enough"

Hikari shrugged.

"It's no problem, we did promise we would find the pages for you"

Donald went up to the book and looked at it.

"I wonder what this book is about?" he asked.

"Why don't you take a look and see?" Merlin offered.

Sora picked up the book and handed it to Hikari.

"Let's see how much your hard works paid off"

Hikari opened to book, clearly expecting to read some type of story.

Instead, the book glowed and sucked up Sora and Hikari in it.

Donald and Goofy panicked.

"What the heck happened?" Donald asked.

"Where did they go?" Goofy added.

Merlin laughed.

"That's a very special book" The wizard said.

"It's not just an ordinary book, but rather a world. That's what makes it so special"

The kings royal followers looked at the book.

"So…they went to a different world?" Donald said.

"Precisely" Merlin said.

"I hope they'll be ok" Goofy said.

/

Sora and Hikari looked at their surroundings.

It seemed that they were sucked into the book and there was no way they could get out.

"I think I'm starting to see why Merlin said this book was special" Sora said.

Hikari just looked around.

It seemed that pictures were missing from the page.

"_Maybe it has something to do with those missing pages that I found?" _she thought.

She looked to the right hand corner of the page and found a picture on it.

She walked over to it and saw that it a picture of an open meadow.

"_Maybe we can get through here?" _She thought.

She waved Sora over and pointed to the picture.

"Look, maybe this picture leads to a page of the book" She said.

"We should go through it"

Sora looked at her skeptically.

He didn't if that was such a good idea. But when Hikari thought of something, it was hard to steer her away from it.

He reluctantly agreed and went into the picture with her.

/

They landed into an open meadow.

There was nothing much to the place except for an over turned log and a little bear wearing a red shirt sitting on it.

They walked up to the bear to see it tapping it's head.

"Think, think" it said.

"Think, think"

They stood in front of the little bear.

"Hi, there" Hikari said.

"What's wrong?" Sora added.

The bear looked up from its 'thinking'.

"Nothing. Just thinking" it said.

"Oh" Sora said.

"I was thinking of how to say goodbye to Pooh" the bear said.

"Pooh?" Hikari asked.

"Yes?" the bear asked.

That caught them off guard. This bear was Pooh?

"Wait a second" Sora said.

"You're Pooh?"

They both sat on either side on him on the log.

"Yes, I'm Winnie the Pooh" Pooh said.

"Pooh for short. Who are you?"

"I'm Sora"

"And I'm Hikari"

"Oh. Hello Sora and Hikari" Pooh said.

"Have you come to say goodbye to Pooh, too?"

"Well, no" Sora said.

"Why would we do that?"

"We've only just met" Hikari added.

"Because everyone's gone away" Pooh said sadly.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, we all lived here in the Hundred Acre Wood" Pooh said.

"And we'd take walks together, or play Pooh sticks….and every day, I'd eat some honey"

The little bear rubbed his tummy.

"Just one small smackeral would taste very good right now. But now everyone's gone. All my friends, and my favorite hunny tree too"

Hikari felt bad for Pooh.

She hugged the bear tightly.

"You poor thing"

"Everyone must have gone away while I was napping, I think" Pooh said when Hikari let him go.

He jumped of the log.

"So, who knows? Maybe I shall end up going away somewhere as well" he said.

"But I wonder, how do I say goodbye to myself?"

Sora and Hikari just looked at him sadly.

Pooh's stomach started to rumble.

"Oh. My tumbly is getting rather rumbly"

He walked off in some random direction.

Hikari looked at Sora when Pooh left.

"Maybe those missing friends have something to do with those missing pages we found" Hikari said.

Sora thought about it.

"But we returned the pages" he said.

"Maybe each page appears after you cleared a certain part of the book" Hikari suggested.

"Do you mean another page has appeared?"

"Probably, but there's only one way to find out"

They jumped off the log and walked out of the meadow.

/

They were back from the page.

They looked around to see if another picture appeared on the book.

Sora spotted a type of tree house on the bottom left corner of the book.

"Hey! There's a page!"

They went up to it and entered into the picture.

/

They arrived at a tree house.

There was nothing much to it except a little campfire pit in the front and a bell hanging next to the door.

There was also a sign that read 'Mr. Sanders' on it.

"I wonder who lives here?" Hikari asked.

"Let's find out"

Sora went up to it and knocked on the door. He didn't get a response, but he found that the door was unlocked.

"Let's go inside" he said.

"Isn't that consider breaking and entering?" Hikari asked.

"It's not breaking in if the door's unlock. Besides, it's not like we're going to steal anything"

Hikari just sighed and followed Sora into the house.

They went inside to find Pooh sitting on the floor with a honey pot in his arms.

"Is this Pooh's house?" Hikari asked.

"I guess so" Sora said.

Pooh lifted up the honey pot and shook it upside down.

"Oh bother. There's no more honey left" Pooh said.

"If only the Hunny Tree would visit… Then I could eat my fill"

Hikari looked sad at the bear. She felt bad that he couldn't eat anything.

She looked at Sora.

"Let's see if the Honey Tree was one of those missing pages" She said.

They left the house and went back to the main area of the book.

They looked around until they found a picture with a large tree.

"That must be the Honey Tree" Sora said.

"Let's go and get some Honey for Pooh then" Hikari said.

They went over to the picture of the giant tree and went into the page.

/

They appeared at the giant Honey Tree. There seemed to be a beehive on every single branch that made up the tree.

"Wow, this tree is huge" Hikari said.

"There's got to be a lot of honey coming from this thing" Sora said.

They heard a timid voice speak out.

"Hello, i-is anyone there?"

A little piglet came into view and looked around nervously.

"Wh-wh-what am I to do?" the poor thing asked.

"I'm all alone"

Sora and Hikari slowly walked up to it. They didn't want to frighten the piglet.

The little pig looked around some more.

"Pooh? Pooh? Where are you?" It asked.

"It's me, Piglet"

They stood behind Piglet.

Piglet noticed their shadows and turned around.

He gasped when he saw them and ran off to hide behind a bush near the tree.

"I think we scared him" Hikari said.

They went up to the bush to see if they could get Piglet to come out.

It seemed like the little pig wasn't going to come out with them there, so they stood back a little to where they were out of his line of sight.

When they saw Piglet slowly come out of the bush, they went up to him.

When Piglet saw them, he looked around nervously and fiddled with his hands.

"Oh Dear! I was j-just…n-never mind" he said.

"I'm sorry!"

Hikari smirked at Piglet.

She had a thing for cute little animals and when she saw Piglet up close, she just couldn't help herself.

(A/N: I have a soft spot for him and Eeyore)

Sora knew where this was going and knew it could only end badly.

"Un oh"

Hikari knelt in front of Piglet so she wouldn't look intimidating to him.

"Don't be scared" she said softly.

"You're looking for Pooh, right?"

Piglet looked up at her.

"You know Pooh?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

Piglet sighed with relief.

"I take it you're looking for Pooh too?"

Piglet nodded.

"Oh, y-you see, I-I have something for him" he said.

"I have to take it to Pooh right away!"

Just then, Pooh appeared and walked up to them.

"Oh, Pooh!" Piglet cried.

Pooh sniffed the air.

"Oh, I believe I smell a delicious something-a something like honey!"

"Pooh!"

Piglet ran up to his best friend.

"Hello, Piglet" Pooh said.

"How have you been?"

"Oh, I-I'm so glad to see you" Piglet said.

"I thought you'd gone away. I brought wh-what you asked for"

He brought out a blown up balloon and handed it to Pooh.

"Thank you, Piglet" Pooh said.

"Now I can finally get some honey"

"Really?" Piglet asked.

"B-but how?"

"I shall hold on to the balloon, and fly like a bee up the Hunny Tree, see" Pooh said.

"But, if you take their honey, won't the bees be angry?" Piglet asked.

That was a problem.

Pooh thought about it for a moment then looked at Sora.

"Oh"

Sora had a feeling he wanted him to chase the bees off so they wouldn't pop Pooh's balloon.

"I'll help you" he said.

Just then, an Owl appeared before them.

"Oh, hello Owl" Pooh said.

"Good day, Pooh" Owl said.

"What are you doing? Using a balloon to get some honey? Splendid idea!"

Hikari picked up Piglet while Owl was talking. She couldn't help herself and just had to hold him.

"Allow me to offer a few pointers" Owl said.

"Now, Pooh can get honey by floating up this tree with his balloon. The honey inside the tree hollows, not the beehives you see here. There's quite a lot of honey in these holes. If Pooh gets too close, the bees will come out to protect their honey. If they get to Pooh, they'll pop his balloon. Just swat them away when they get to close"

Hikari looked at Sora and grinned.

"Good luck" she said.

Sora jumped up at the closest tree branch and waited for Pooh to float up to the first hole.

Hikari watched as Sora struck the bees that tried to get too close to Pooh.

She held Piglet close to her like a teddy bear. The pig enjoyed being secured by someone like her.

They watched as Pooh ate the honey from each hole before reaching to the top.

Sora made sure that the bees were out of the way while Pooh ate his fill of honey.

"It is rather funny what I will do for honey" Pooh said.

When Pooh finished eating, they left the Hunny Tree and returned to the main book area.

/

They went to the next page of the book that lead them to a garden.

They walked around the area until they found Pooh and Piglet standing near a hole that was in the back of the house.

Pooh seemed to look inside the hole as if there was someone there.

Piglet saw Sora and Hikari standing next to them.

"Look, Rabbit's house c-came back!" he said.

"But it looks like Rabbit isn't home. Pooh's been calling and calling, but the house says no one is home"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

How could there be someone saying no one was home when there wasn't anyone?

"Nobody's home?" Pooh called out into the hole.

"That's right! Nobody!" someone said from inside.

So there was someone inside, but they didn't want to be bothered by Pooh.

"If they didn't want anyone to bother them, they shouldn't have said something" she said to herself.

"What kind of idiot would blow away their cover like that"

She went around to the front of the house and went inside.

There, she found a yellow rabbit standing near the hole.

Pooh must have thought that 'nobody' was a person and that 'nobody' wasn't home.

"Who is this person named Nobody?" he asked.

He climbed in through the hole.

"Nobody, have you seen rabbit?"

He went inside and found Rabbit standing there.

Rabbit hung his head when he saw Pooh didn't fall for his trick.

"Not the sharpest crayon in the box, is he?" Sora whispered to Hikari.

Hikari just elbowed Sora to shush him.

"Hello, Rabbit!" Pooh said.

Piglet went through the hole and walked up to Hikari so he could be held again.

Rabbit looked at Pooh.

"Why, P-Pooh" Rabbit said.

"What a pleasant surprise. Nice to see you too, Piglet. And…"

He turned around and looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Are they new friends?" he asked.

Rabbit looked back at Pooh.

"Pooh, I'm sorry, but… I'm all out of honey at the moment"

Pooh didn't seem to be listening to him since he started looking for it.

Sora looked up at the ceiling and spotted a honey pot.

"Hey, what's that?"

Rabbit looked up as well and panicked.

"H-honey? Now, how did that get up there?"

He nervously looked at Pooh when he saw the bear starting at him.

"Would you like some Pooh? Don't feel like you have to"

Pooh smiled.

"Oh, thank you, Rabbit. I would like just a small smackeral. I'm quite hungry"

Sora got the pot down for him and gave it to Pooh.

Pooh sat at the table and started to eat it.

When he ate more than just a few bites, Rabbit became worried.

"Um, Pooh Bear.."

Pooh continued eating.

"You're not eating the whole pot, are you?"

Pooh tipped the pot back so he could get the honey that was at the bottom.

"Once you start, there's no stopping you, is there…"

While Pooh was eating, Sora looked at Hikari.

"I don't think there's anything more to this page" he whispered.

Hikari nodded and placed Piglet down before leaving the house.

Just as they were about to cross the bridge, they heard Piglet's voice.

"H-help! Please help Pooh!"

He lead them back to Rabbit's house, where they saw Pooh stuck through the rabbit hole in the back.

"Oh dear" Hikari said.

"Oh, help and bother" Pooh said.

"I'm stuck again. I came through this hole, so it must have shrunk"

"_No, you simply got too big" _Hikari thought.

They went outside to see how bad the damage was.

Pooh looked sad as he was stuck in the hole.

"Oh, how will I eat honey if I'm stuck here?" he asked.

"When it's lunchtime , perhaps you could bring me a honey jar"

"No honey until you're unstuck!" Rabbit said.

He went up to Pooh.

"If Pooh doesn't slim down, my house will be plugged up!" he cried.

"If only there was something we could do…."

He suddenly came up with an idea.

"I know, a bit of carrot top juice should do the trick. I have a carrot patch on the other side of the stream. Carrot top juice is just the trick to slimming Pooh down!"

He went to go to the garden, but panicked.

"Oh no!"

A tiger came bouncing on his tail.

He bounced over towards Rabbit's house and pounced on Sora and Hikari.

"Hey there! Name's Tigger! T-I- double- guh-RR. That spells Tigger!"

Hikari looked perplexed at the tiger that was sitting on her.

Tigger realized who he was sitting on and looked confused.

"Well, now! I don't think I've seen any of you before!"

Pooh smiled at his friend.

"Hello, Tigger. You've just bounced on my new friends, Sora and Hikari"

Tigger looked at Pooh.

"Hey, Pooh!" he said.

"Say, you're looking mighty uncomfy today. Is this some new exercise? Why, bouncin' around is a lot more fun!"

He got off of Sora and Hikari and started to bounce around.

"Why do you bounce around so much, Tigger?" Hikari asked.

"Why? Cause bouncin' is what tigger's do best! Tigger cried.

"Speaking of which, my bouncin' spot has gone and disappeared. So for now, this'll be my new bouncin' ground!"

He bounced over to the vegetable garden.

"Tigger's bouncing will ruin my vegetables!" Rabbit cried.

"And if we don't give Pooh some carrot top juice , he'll be stuck forever!"

He looked at Hikari.

"Please help me!" he pleaded.

"Keep Tigger away from my carrots!"

Hikari nodded.

"No problem"

She ran into the garden and started her game of stopping Tigger.

Whenever Tigger went to jump on a carrot, Hikari would be one step ahead of him and would block his jump before he could step on the carrot.

This went on for a couple of minutes until Tigger tired out.

"Say, you kept up pretty good, Hikari" Tigger said.

"Especially for a non-Tigger! Let's have another go!"

Hikari smirked.

"Maybe next time"

Rabbit got all the ingredients that he needed for the juice while everyone waited inside.

"Oh, what a day!" Rabbit cried as he came in.

"I gave Pooh the carrot top juice. All we have to do now is push him out"

"I'll do it" Sora said.

He took a running start and slammed up into Pooh.

Pooh shot out the hole like a rocket and crashed into a pile of honey jars.

Rabbit looked horrified at the mess.

"First my vegetable patch and now this"

Hikari glared at Sora.

"Sora"

Sora rubbed his head nervously.

"Opps"

Pooh had a honey pot stuck to his head at the moment.

"Oh, bother" he said.

"Where am I? It's ever so dark in here"

He could taste honey within the jar.

"Well, it isn't so bad, I suppose. There's plenty of honey"

/

After that little incident, they went to the next page where there was a swing set near a lake.

They walked over to a bridge to where Pooh and Piglet were standing at. They seemed to be looking at something in the water.

"Look, Pooh. Something is floating this way" Piglet said.

"I think you're right, Piglet" Pooh said.

"What could it be?"

Sora and Hikari went to them to see what it was. A little donkey appeared to be floating in the water towards them

"Why, it looks like Eeyore!" Pooh said.

"Hello, Eeyore, if it is you"

Eeyore looked up at them dully. He seemed to be down about something.

"Hello, Pooh" Eeyore said.

"Yes, it's me. Could you pull me out? That is, if it's not too much trouble. Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to"

He continued floating along the stream.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"We should get him out. He'll get sick if we let him stay in there"

Sora nodded and they both jumped over the bridge. They swam over to Eeyore and pulled him out of the water.

Hikari cast a minor fire spell to dry him off.

"There you go" she said.

Eeyore looked at her.

"Thank you" he said dully.

He looked at the others.

"You know, floating along out there, it seemed like something was missing…and something's still missing"

Piglet looked at his backend to see that his tail was missing.

"Why, Eeyore's tail is gone!"

"Is that's what's missing?" Hikari asked.

Eeyore looked at where his tail should be.

"Let's see…yep, lost it again" he said.

"Wonder where is went this time? It's not much of a tail, though I'm sort of attached to it. But I don't know why anyone would look for it. Probably won't find it"

"Don't say that" Sora said.

"We'll help you look for your tail"

Hikari rubbed the back of her head.

"But where do we look?"

"Lost something?"

Everyone looked up to see Owl fly towards them.

"Searching from a high place is the quickest way to find it!" Owl said.

Sora looked at Owl.

"Owl, can you fly up high and help us find Eeyore's tail?" he asked.

"Sorry, but my eyes aren't what they used to be" Owl said.

"Too much reading, you know. But I can offer good advice!"

He pointed towards the swing up on the hill.

"See that swing up there? Take Pooh there. You're a bit too big for the swing, but Pooh should fit nicely. I'll tell you more when you get there"

Hikari looked at Sora .

Seeing the swing reminded her of when Leon would push her on the swing as a kid.

"I'll take Pooh up there. You just look down here, ok?"

Sora nodded.

Hikari took Pooh's hand and lead him up the hill.

Owl waited for them up at the tree.

"Here's what to do" Owl said.

"Just push the swing so Pooh can go higher and higher. He should be able to find Eeyore's tail this way"

Hikari looked at Pooh.

"You ready, Pooh?"

The little bear nodded as he sat on the swing.

"Ok then, here we go"

She started pushing him on the swing.

Memories of when Leon would push her ran through her head.

She remembered how saw always asked him to push her higher until she could touch the leaves on the tree.

She got so caught up in memories that she didn't even realize that she pushed Pooh so hard that he went flying off the swing.

She looked horrified as he went flying and landed on Eeyore's little stick house, causing it to break.

"Uh oh"

She ran down towards them.

"Is everyone ok?"

Eeyore looked at the ground and saw his tail.

"Hm? This looks familiar" he said.

Sora put his tail on while everyone watched.

"How's it looking?" Pooh asked.

"There we go" Sora said when he finished.

Eeyore looked at his tail.

"It's not much of a tail, but it's mine" he said.

"Thanks everyone"

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Sorry about smashing your house. I'll be sure to fix it before we go"

They fixed Eeyore's little house before the left this part of the book.

/

The next page that they went to lead them to an area filled with tree stumps.

They spotted Tigger bouncing with a baby kangaroo.

They went over to him and watched as he bounced on some type of seesaw.

"This here is my bouncin' spot!" he cried.

"We can bounce around here all day!"

"Nothing beats bouncin'!" the little kangaroo added.

"You wanna bounce too, you guys?" Tigger asked.

It's lotsa fun!"

Hikari looked at Sora.

"I don't see any harm in that. How about it, Sora?"

Sora just shrugged.

"Sure, why not"

Tigger cheered.

"To bounce with the finest, you'll need some pointers from the finest" Tigger said.

"Bounce this way please"

He and the baby kangaroo, that was named Roo jumped on one of the tree stumps that filled the forest.

Sora and Hikari jumped on the stump with them and waited for the next set of instructions.

"Just bounce in the same places that we do" Tigger said.

They watched as he bounced on a set of stumps before landing near a ledge.

They followed his example and jumped on the stumps before meeting up with him and Roo.

They continued to jumped with them until they passed all of the tests that Tigger gave.

"That was some might bouncin' Sora and Hikari" Tigger said.

Roo looked at Tigger.

"Hey, Tigger! I think they're ready for the big one!"

Tigger looked at Roo.

"Well there's only one way to find out" he said.

The 'big one' turned out to be that they had to hit this giant pot in the center with nuts. Tigger would throw the nuts at them and Sora and Hikari had to hit them back without falling off the tree stump they were on.

"Don't worry, Sora. We can do this" Hikari said.

They pulled out their keyblades and hit the nuts that were thrown at them.

Hikari used her keyblade like a baseball bat and whacked the nuts at the pot. Whenever they hit, Tigger would bounce out of the pot and cheer them on.

They hit the pot about 20 times before the thing shattered.

Tigger cheered at their good work.

"Now let's try the seesaw" he said.

They went over to the seesaw where Tigger and Roo were bouncing on it.

Their next task was to obtain these rare nuts that were up in the trees.

Sora was partnered up with Tigger while Hikari was partnered with Roo.

They both jumped on the seesaw and landed on different parts of the forest to obtain the nuts.

Some of them were hard to obtain, but that's what their keyblades were for.

They were able to get all of the nuts and brought them back to Tigger and Roo.

"Way to go!" Roo said.

"You're pretty good bouncers" Tigger said.

They bounced for a tiny bit more before they left the area.

/

There was only one page left in the book.

They went into a muddy path area that had a lot of plant life.

They saw Pooh walking around as if he was looking for something.

They went up to him.

"What are you doing, Pooh?" Sora asked.

Pooh looked at them.

He pressed a paw to his mouth.

"Shh. Quiet, or they'll get away" he whispered.

"Who?" Hikari whispered.

Pooh looked around.

"The people who took everyone away" he said.

"See their footprints? We were all sticking together to make sure no one got lost again. But then I saw some footprints that needed following. So I did. Suddenly, everyone was gone. Bad people must have taken them away!"

They looked to see a set of footprints around them. They seemed to be circling around the same area as Pooh.

When they took a closer look at the prints, they saw that they belonged to Pooh.

Hikari giggled.

"Actually, Pooh, I think these footprints are…um…"

She couldn't bring herself to tell him that they were his. It would have made him look like an idiot.

"Anyway, we'll help you look for your friends"

They started looking around the area for Pooh's friends.

Hikari looked through a group an bushes and found Eeyore sitting within the opening of them.

"Eeyore?" she asked.

The donkey looked at her dully.

"Hello" he said.

She knelt in front of him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking for sticks to build my house…again"

"Sticks for your house?" she asked.

She looked around the bush that he was hiding in. It was closed off and really didn't have an opening except for the place that she entered. It was almost like a house.

"This place already feels like a house" she said.

An idea suddenly came to her head.

"This could be a great place to gather everyone once we find them"

She looked at Eeyore.

"Do you mind if everyone stays here when we find them?" she asked.

"Sure, why not" Eeyore said.

Hikari smiled.

"Thanks"

She went out of Eeyore's 'house' and told Sora the plan.

He nodded and they started their search for Pooh's friends.

Sora had found Tigger bouncing on a log.

""I saw Pooh walkin' away, so I bounced after him!" Tigger said when Sora caught him.

"Then I bounced a bit too high, and I lost sight of ol' Pooh Bear!"

"At least you're alright" Sora said.

He brought him back to where Eeyore was and told him to stay there so he wouldn't get hurt.

Hikari found Owl hiding behind a tree.

"I thought I'd have a word with Roo about his bouncing" Owl said.

"Next thing I knew, quite to my surprise, I was here too!"

"Don't worry, I'll find Roo" Hikari said.

"Just go wait with the others while I do so"

She sent him back to Eeyore's place and continued her search.

Sora found Rabbit hiding within a set of caves.

"Owl, was so intent about something, well, I just had to follow him" he said.

"But then he flew off into the trees and I was stuck here all by myself"

"Well, we found Owl, so you can talk to him if you want" Sora said.

Rabbit went back with the others and talked with Owl.

Hikari found Piglet hiding within a hallowed out tree.

She knelt down in front of him so he could see her.

"Hi, Piglet" she said.

Piglet seemed to look relived when he saw her.

She held her arms out.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the others"

Piglet ran into her arms and was carried back to the others.

"You stay here while I go find the others, ok?" she asked when she placed him down.

Piglet nodded.

Hikari went up to Sora.

"The only person we're missing is Roo" Sora said.

Hikari looked around the area. Where could that little guy be hiding.

She looked up into the trees and saw him up in the branches.

"Found him" she said.

They went up to the tree that he was on.

"Roo, what are you doing up there" Hikari asked.

"I was so busy trying to bounce, that I forgot to watch where I was bouncing" Roo said.

Sora held his arms out.

"I'll catch you" he said.

Roo jumped out of the tree and landed in Sora's arms.

"That should be everyone" Hikari said.

They brought Roo back to the others.

Pooh smiled when he saw his friends.

"Everyone's here!" he cried.

Sora and Hikari smiled.

They left the muddy area and headed back for the hill with the swing set.

/

The sun had set in the Hundred Acre Woods and the stars shone brightly in the night sky.

Everyone sat on the hill as they watched the stars twinkle.

"I'm so glad we're all together again" Piglet said.

"I didn't know what to do when I was alone"

"Aw, Piglet, you gotta be brave" Tigger said.

"You weren't lonely at all?" Piglet asked.

"Lonely? Are you kidding?" Tigger asked.

"I'm a Tigger! The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one"

He thought about it for a moment.

"But I do admit, friends are awfully fun, too!"

"Think, think. Think, think"

Sora and Hikari looked at Pooh to see him thinking about something.

"Hey, Pooh, what are you thinking about now?" Hikari asked.

Pooh looked at them.

"Oh, well, I'm just thinking about what to think about"

Hikari giggled.

She looked at Sora.

Since they finish returning all of the pages to the book, it was time for them to head off.

They had to find their own friends now and they figured Donald and Goofy were worried about them.

"Well, we're off" Sora said.

They both stood up.

"Where you going?" Piglet asked them.

"We're going to go look for our friends" Sora said.

"They're waiting for us" Hikari added.

"Bounce on back again!" Tigger said.

"I hope you find your friends" Piglet said.

They nodded and jumped off the hill.

Everyone walked over the edge of the hill and saw Sora and Hikari walking away.

They stopped for a moment and waved goodbye at them.

Everyone waved goodbye in return as they left.

"Sora, Hikari, don't forget…" Pooh said.

"We shall always be here. If you'd like to visit us again, that is"

With that, they left the book and returned to Merlin's room.

/

Donald and Goofy were relieved to see them when they returned.

"Are you guys ok?" Goofy asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yep, we were just having some fun with Pooh" he said.

Hikari looked at the book.

"It really is a great book" she said.

"I'm glad we found the pages"

Merlin smiled.

"This just shows you that not all worlds are what they seem. They can be just about anything, even a book"

From then on, the book would never have its blank cover again.

Instead, it held the title "Winnie the Pooh' and had a picture of Sora and Hikari walking hand in hand with Pooh, Piglet and Tigger.

They would forever be a part of that world and its story.

/

**A/N: I hope you guys liked it. I had to admit, this chapter made me feel all fuzzy inside.**

**The next chapter will be the epilogue, the final chapter! **

**Thanks for sticking with me for so long!**

**Please review!**

**Ja ne**


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

**A/N: Hey everyone! As you can tell, this is the last and final chapter to A Trail of Memories. But fear not! This is only the beginning of this saga. Well still have the second story and that shall be coming out every soon.**

**Thank you all for reading this story till the very end. It's thanks to you guys that I was able to keep going.**

**Be sure to keep a look out for part two and this series.**

**It'll be called Chained Memories just in case you're wondering.**

**Thank you again.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I simply own Hikari and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

With Ansem destroyed and Kingdom Hearts sealed for good, all of the worlds were finally back to the way they were. The heartless were not a threat anymore, and the hearts that were lost to the darkness were returned.

Sora and Hikari had accomplished the impossible.

/

At Hallow Bastion, Leon and the gang were talking within the library. Since their world was theirs again, they needed to start repairing it.

As they were talking, Cid came into the room with someone with him.

He looked at Mikomi and smirked, knowing how she would react to their little guest.

"Hey, Mikomi. There's someone here who wants to see you"

Mikomi looked at him and gasped when she saw his guest.

Cloud stood near the doorway to the library. Her white winged necklace worn proudly around his neck.

He looked at his little sister and couldn't believe how much she had grown over the years.

He saw his black winged necklace worn around her neck.

"Hey, Mikomi' he said quietly.

Tears ran down her face as she looked at her brother.

"Ni-sama!"

She ran up to him and latched herself to him and cried into his chest.

Cloud hugged her back tightly and rest his chin on top of her head.

He had tears fill up the corner of his eyes as he held his little sister to him.

Aerith and Yuffie smiled at the scene while Leon looked at the bracelet Taiyouko gave to him and Hikari.

He touched the little heart charm as he thought about his sister.

"Please be safe" he whispered to himself.

/

In Traverse Town, Pinocchio finally turned into a real boy.

He touched his face to feel flesh instead of wood.

He looked at his body and couldn't help but jump around the room with joy.

His father watched and couldn't help but laugh with joy over his son's happiness.

/

In Agrabah, Jasmine was reunited with Aladdin and they were finally able to express their love for each other.

It seemed that they had taken Hikari's advice and listen to their hearts.

They shared a tender kiss with Genie and Abu watching.

/

On the restored islands, Tidus, Wakka and Selphine ran across the beach, enjoying the sun's rays.

They didn't know what had happened to Sora, Riku and Hikari, but they figured they were on a little trip, oblivious to everything that had happen recently.

/

With the worlds restored, the remaining princesses of hearts were able to return to their home worlds.

But before they did that, they expressed their gratitude one last time to the keyblade masters for saving the worlds.

/

As for our heroes, they were seen walking down a dirt path.

Since the End of the World was destroyed, they ended up on this dirt road that seemed to lead to one way.

They walked in silence, probably thinking about their journey that they had just finished.

They may have defeated Ansem, but their journey was far from over.

Hikari touched the place where her pendant once stood. It felt weird not having it on her, but she knew she made the right choice by giving it to Riku.

"_Now my heart will always be with him" _she thought.

They kept walking in silence for a few moments.

"Well, now what do we do?" Donald asked.

"We've gotta find Riku and King Mickey" Sora said.

"Yeah, Riku has my lucky charm, and I want to get it back" Hikari added.

"But, uh, how do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?" Goofy asked.

They thought about for a moment and realized that they didn't have any ideas.

They all slumped their heads in defeat.

Sora looked up and noticed the dog that they saw from Traverse Town from when they first came there.

"Pluto?" Donald asked.

The dog looked at them and wagged his tail.

"Hey, Pluto. Where have you been?" Goofy asked.

They noticed that he held a letter within his mouth and that it had King Mickey's seal on it.

"That's the king's seal!"

"Hey, have you seen King Mickey?" Hikari asked.

Pluto suddenly ran down the dirt path, as if telling them to follow him.

Everyone looked at each other for a moment.

"Guys, let's go!" Sora said.

They all ran after Pluto with hopes of finding clues to where King Mickey and Riku might be.

Hikari's resolve to find Riku grew.

Since she knew that he was alright and that he wasn't siding with the darkness anymore, she knew she had a chance to save him.

"_I saved him once, I can save him again"_

She remembered when he said that he loved her and touched her lips, thinking about his kiss.

Now that she knew he loved her, she had nothing to fear.

"_Riku, I'll find you no matter what. I don't care how many worlds I have to travel, I won't stop until have you back in my arms"_

They continue to chase Pluto down the dirt road.

As they did a voice seemed to speak into their heads.

"_Remember Sora and Hikari. You are the ones who will open the door to the light"_

_The End_

/

**A/N: And there you have it. I know it wasn't much, but that's where part 2 comes in.**

**Be sure to keep an eye out for it.**

**Thank you all for sticking with me until the very end. I couldn't have done it without you!**

**Ja ne!**


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